CANINE CHOIR

                                                               songs that

                    without an us there’s no reason for a me.

                            – George Perreault “walking the dry ditch”)

Coyotes touching bases across the canyon’s canyons

shatters distance within the black, primal intonations

that combat loneliness and comfort the flesh. 

The dogs have learned to howl with lyrics of their own

to claim their space, protect their home. Each octave

of our quartet has a name in the dark.

Today, there’s no excuse to be without music,

to swim away with joy and pain from phones

that lift us, that practice and test ascension

for when the time comes.  How I admire

and envy its makers, how I sing along

as if no other reason for a me.