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Loraine Leatherbow is using
a placebo, the body cast-off
of coyote urine, hoping the
"Little Italy's" have a subliminal
reaction to the airborne pheremones.

She has the evening wind in her favor.
This is no accident.  She purposefully
picked this spot to have the wind in her
face.  There is something about aligning
the wind with the art of coyote whispering.

99 times out of 100, she gets the result
she wants, coyotes back in their village
safe and sound.

Taken with a cup of prairie-perked coffee,
dawn in Gallup, New Mexico is a special
time.  The horizon colors of mauve, pink,
and crimson send a message in morning-sky
neon; Welcome to the Southwest!

Raising her binoculars, Loraine Leatherbow
watches the prairie open its eyes.

Across the globe, it is a different day.  The
jackals of the Serengeti, distant kin to the
coyote, are chasing off hyenas.

Loraine Leatherbow is the "coyote whisperer."
She increases their survival rate, and she is
going to have a mortality "talk" with them, not
only to increase their mortality, but to reconstruct
a prairie ecosystem.

Coyotes are the cornerstone of the Southwest
ecosystem, and like the roadrunner, the New
Mexico State bird, the coyote is a cherished
symbol of the Southwest.

One of the coyotes has its head stuck in a
buffalo skull.  He is trying to get at the ants who
make their home in the skull where a prairie
nomad used to park its head.

Loraine Leatherbow's laugh burrows
underground watching him try to unlock
the skull without skinning his nose.

Picking up the scent, coyote Palermo and
coyote Giovanna curiously circle the stick
pounded into the ground with the coyote-urine
scented bandana tied to it.

It doesn't take too long for the Little Italy's to
pick up their one-way ticket to Arroyo No. 5
to mark their new territory.

The coyotes are back in their village.
Aiiii .... Aiiii .... Yip .... Yip .... Yippy!


Authors note:  This is a poetic excerpt from my
novel Loraine Leatherbow: The House of Spleen.
The coyotes are on the airport runway. They are
in the crosshairs.  In the tarot deck, there is the
Fool card.  Animal or human, the wise fool, one
deficient in judgment and good sense have been
used in the lore of many cultures.  In this case, both
species are fools; the humans for killing animals
without caring or knowing the impact on the
environment and the coyotes for chasing winged-ones
they cannot outrun!

Copyright 2006 Sage Sweetwater, firebrand lesbian novelist, brainchild of Sage Sweetwater Creative Properties, flagship of Stone Creek Woman