Lyrics

COYOTES
I set out with the sunrise on a set of worn-out skis
My thoughts were hanging heavy as the snow upon the trees
I was thinking of my granddad, how he'd given many warnings
To watch out for coyotes in the woods on winter mornings

With a dagger in my pocket that could kill me if I fell
I made two lines like the highway through the trail I knew so well
At the log bridge by the river, I heard a rustle at my back
Caught a glimpse of the coyote that was following my tracks

In her eyes a glow of amber, in a flash she lunged for me
I stumbled in my skis, she ripped my snow pants at the knee
With a mittened hand I wrestled, tried to free my granddad’s knife
Drove it deep into the soft fur of the dog to save my life

With a whimper she relented and the snow turned angry red
She licked her wounded shoulder while my own leg pulsed and bled
A shadow broke the sunlight in the corner of my eye
A pack of young coyotes come to watch their mother die

As her babies gathered round me, I could smell their puppy breath
And my thoughts in that brief moment were of life instead of death
As they tore me into pieces and licked my old bones clean
My spirit grew so peaceful, the most at rest I’d ever been

I thought of my own babies, running fingers through their hair,
And all the times I had wronged them, caught my leg in my own snare
I will see no fiery furnace, no box deep in the ground
Just a pack of wild coyotes and their high and lonesome sound