WHEN COYOTE CALLED DOWN THE STARS

Coyote’s sitting beside a fire pit late one night.
It’s real dark, and his back’s to you.

Finally, after he’s made you wait a good long while, he signals
for you to sit yourself down, and you do it.
You’re sitting right there in front of that old varmint,
but he ain’t seeing you.

WHAT?--- Coyote yells, finally looking up at you.
You thought Coyote was a Man?
Or some kind of wild dog?
Or maybe a spirit from the Before Times?
Well I’ll tell you something.
I ain’t none of those things!

You look in Coyote’s eyes.
You’re looking for signs,
signs that tell you Hey!
It’s okay.
Coyote’s only funning with ya.

But all you see is those two yellow eyes,
and the firelight flickering
reflecting your own face
dancing in those old yellow eyes of his.

Then Coyote starts messing with the fire,
sending sparks and smoke curling
all the way up to the stars.
Coyote, he’s mumbling something to himself,
and there’s the beating of nightwings overhead.
Coyote, he starts whistling,
and pulling that old blanket of his
tighter around his bony old shoulders.

Hey, Coyote! What are you calling down?

But Coyote, he doesn’t answer.
He just starts messing with that fire again,
Rocking back and forth
and mumbling something to himself.
Faster now.

Hey Coyote! What are you calling down?

Coyote, he looks up at the stars overhead
And starts grinning.
There’s those nightwings again.

Hey Coyote! What are you calling down?

And Coyote, he looks you dead in the eyes
And shakes his head like you were some sorry excuse.

Best you just sit still
and keep quiet now, if you can ---
he hisses in your general direction as he jumps up and sets to his medicine dance.

Coyote, he always means business.

ROOF WALKERS

Hey Zebra Man, what you doing up there?
---Comin’ to see you!---
Why you walking on the rooftops?
---Comin’ to see you!---
Hey Zebra Man, how come you don’t walk through the front door?
---Because when I come through the front door, I’m a man.
But when you see me coming over the rooftops, I’m
From somewhere else.---
Hey Zebra Man, where you comin’ from?
---From the other side, from the Old Times, I
Come from the Spirit Place.---
What are you doing up there Zebra Man? What can you see?
---I’m looking for signs and signals. I’m seeing things
Up here I just can’t see from the ground.---
Hey Zebra Man, how come you’ve got those funny striped horns?
---Maybe I make you laugh, and maybe you
Don’t see what I’m working on till I’m good and ready.---
Hey Zebra Man, how come you come my way walking over the roofs?
---So’s I make sure you see me.
So’s I make sure you don’t miss a single one of my tricks.---
Hey Zebra Man, how come you come my way walking over the roofs?
---So’s I make sure the People see me, and the Other Ones don’t.---
Hey Zebra Man, who are the Other Ones?
--- Shhhhh! You know Who.---

COYOTE'S JOURNEY

You ever notice how Coyote, he never doubles back? I first discovered this peculiarity of his when he picked me up along the roadside heading south one morning not long before daybreak. I was minding my own damn business, not looking for any grief or mischief and I sure wasn’t looking for a ride. But along comes this slick new sports car, one of those fast European jobs, and the driver rolls down his window and grins at me. Hop in, he says, I’ll take you for a little spin. Then he winks, and I get that cold shiver up my backside like I do whenever things are starting to heat up.
So I hop in and off we go, tear-assing down the highway like the law was after us and we had more than a guilty secret or two between us. Pretty soon, I realize I left my backpack laying by the side of the road.
Turn around! I yell. But coyote, he doesn’t even slow down, he just sits there grinning.
Stop this damned car and turn around! I left my backpack out there on the highway!
I know it --- he says. I figured there wasn’t anything in there you needed anymore and that was why you left it laying back there.
Well no! – I say. I just forgot it back there, that's all! And I need my damn gear, so turn this buggy around and get on back there for it!
Nope --- says Coyote. Nope, nay, and nada. If there was anything important in that sack of yours, you’d never have forgot it. If there was any unfinished business in that old bag, then you’d best learn to get by with unfinished business, because we ain’t never turning back now. And if there’s anything in there you just can’t live without, then you’d best get started dying, because this car is going straight on till we get where we’re headed, and we ain’t stopping, and we ain’t turning around for nothing. You ride with Coyote, you ride a one way street.
Oh well, I suppose he’s right. There wasn’t anything special in that old sack after all. Best just sit back and enjoy the view.

THE TALE OF THE THREE BROTHERS

A great and noble chieftain had died victorious in battle, and as is the custom of the sons of the barbarians, he gave his lands in equal portions to his three sons. Before the funereal pyre of the great chief had fully cooled, these three fine eager youths set off to put their affairs in place and to establish themselves upon their domains, each of them as a king unto his people and his lands.
Soon however, strange and troubling news came to the eldest son that a huge lion had been seen prowling in the forest, a creature magnificent, wild, ferocious, and untamed. The peasants grew mad with terror. So the young king considered the stars carefully, and he studied the ancient texts for a sign, and he sought the council of his great men to determine what he must do to bring peace once again to his lands.
After three days it was decided that nothing could be done to guard against the threat of such a creature and that their only hope would be to shun the beast completely and lock it out of the land and thereby only might they remain safe from its claws and its wild howling in the night.
So a great and massive wall, impenetrable and fortified with stone, was built up around the beautiful forest. No food or water could be brought forth to feed the people of the city, but at least the lion was confined deep and hidden within. Neither peasant nor noble nor king was allowed to enter or approach the wall or the forest, or to even speak of it and soon it was all overgrown with weeds and darkness and invisible to the eyes of the young king and his people.
But then, the maddened roaring of the caged beast began to reach the ears of the king and the children began to suffer the terrors of the night and awaken crying in their dreams. And then at last, great holes begin to appear in the wall surrounding the forest which contained this fierce lion, now mad with rage and starving. It was even rumored that a child had been killed and its body lay torn and bleeding near the wall where the great cracks had appeared, yet none dared approach from fear. And some swore they had even seen the beast prowling the streets freely by night, but that it had changed its form and was monstrous and terrible to behold. But none would see it, for they remained locked behind their own walls and doors, so great was their fear to venture forth, and a terror gripped the land like the dark cloud of locusts which descends and feeds until naught but dust remains.
Now, the middle son lived some leagues away, but he too was brought this curious news of a lion hunting his forest and roaming the streets of his city by night.
“My brother is a fool,” said the young prince. So he organized a great hunt, and he and his nobles set forth out of the city with spears and swords and with all manner of display of their might and their great power and accompanied by the beating of many drums. And soon of course, they came to the lion’s cave where he slept in peace during the hot summer’s day.
They rushed upon the great beast and they slew him with ease as he slept and dreamed of the night and the hunt. They cut his body into many pieces, and they brought it back to the city where they made a great show of their victory and peace once again prevailed within the land.
But soon, another and similar beast of its kind was seen to roam in the land and hunt in the forest by night, and sheep were found killed and people disappeared often from their beds while they slept. Various old women went mad and spoke of a terrible and unquenchable vengeance that would come upon them for the slaying of the lion. And the sons of the lion were rumored to be too many to count and that they came in secret and in dreams and possessed no form that could be seen with the eye.
And a terror gripped the land like the cloud of locusts that descends from nowhere and feeds until naught but dust remains.
The youngest son heard these sad tales and grieved with pity for his brother’s terrible misfortunes. The lad was known to be wise for his youth and a lad of many and well considered thoughts and virtues. He studied with the greatest philosophers of the day and he sat with monks and with priests and he was possessed of eyes and a heart which act as one.
So the youth called for his council and together they rode into their own forest where they knew a great lion, magnificent, ferocious and untamed, prevailed. And with much patience and with the cunning of good men, they won the trust of the lion. And they subdued him with food and with a kind hand.
With time, the lion grew docile and quite tame and fed from their hands like a pet. And soon the lion grew fat and lazy and no longer dreamed of the hunt. He lay about like a great dog, eager for a pat on the head or a bit of cooked meat and he ceased to be a lion at all.
And the king and his nobles grew soft and their lion roared no more and boredom and sloth descended upon the land like the kiss of the opium poppy and all the people felt contempt for the lion because it was tamed. But the lion felt an equal measure of rage and contempt for the nobles, his masters, because they had robbed him of his soul. And all was quite tame and still in the land.
But it was rumored that the lion dreamed at last once more and that his dreams touched the deepest souls of the nobles and their king but they were dreams of death and of decay and of horror. But they heeded it not for they could not remember their dreams. And a terror of something unknown gripped the land like a cloud of locusts that swells up from the caves of the darkest earth and blackens out the sky and feeds until naught but bones remain.
And at this point in the story, the good storyteller pauses in his tale to quaff the last dregs remaining at the bottom of his wine cup as his audience begins to rise, ready to take their leave.
“But wait,” he calls. “do you not know that these three brothers had a sister?”
Oh yes, and she as well took an equal portion of the lands of her father, the dead and victorious king. And she too heard the curious news of a great lion, ferocious, magnificent and untamed, hunting wild in the forests of her home. Delight and curiosity swept the heart of the young queen with joy, and she called to her all of her maidens and girls in waiting, all of her dancers and nobles and together they made a grand procession of singing and dancing and merriment and ventured forth out deep into the forest to better see this wonder for themselves.
The queen and her friends watched in fascination as the lion crouched and lunged and stalked its prey, as was its nature. And they laughed with delight as the beast washed itself after feasting and then rolled and played in the tall grasses and slept on its back without a care or a worry or a fear.
And when the lion awoke, the young queen leapt upon his back and clasped his magnificent body to her own and dug her fingers deep into the thick fur of his mane and whispered her name into his ear with a kiss. And the lion sprang into the woods and carried her away on his mad and glorious chase of the hunt. Together they rode, wildness and wanton.
And late into the cool star-filled night the lion returned her safe and happy to her home. And it was agreed between them and a pact was formed, that by day, the lion would hunt as his nature demands, magnificent, ferocious and free. And together by night, they ride to the hunt as one.

THE GREATEST FOOL OF ALL

Gaius Cassius was a notorious and infamous Fool among men and the women too would often smile slyly at the mention of his name. He prided himself greatly for his fame and many times boasted that no greater fool than he walked and breathed and roamed freely upon the land. But it happened like this say them that know, that a Wise Man mentioned to Gaius Cassius that in the Village by the River there was an even greater fool than he at large upon the land who boasting loudly
to all who would listen of his numerous and ridiculous acts of foolishness.
At this, Gaius Cassius grew mad with rage, and he set off at once in search of this self-styled fool, this charlatan, to set him straight about just who was the greatest Fool in the land. But when Gaius Cassius came at last to the Village by the River, the people there told him that their Fool had set out that very morning on a mysterious quest, but that if he moved very quickly, he might still catch up with him, in the town with its gates shut tight against the coming storm. So Gaius Cassius hurried his pace and soon indeed he came upon the town with its gates shut tight against the coming storm. But the people there told him that their Fool had fled in haste for his very life that same morning, convinced that his earthly existence was in grave peril. But, they added, he might still be able to catch up with him in the town bordering the ancient forest.
So Gaius Cassius traveled late into the night so eager was he to catch this impostor who had clearly been forewarned of his coming and who now fled from the wrath of Gaius Cassius, the true and greatest Fool in the land. But in the town bordering the forest, Gaius Cassius was told that the man he sought had gone to visit his wife in the village where a wise man ruled the city on top of a hill. So Gaius Cassius spent the last of his money on a fleet horse, so that he might catch this impertinent and would-be Fool while he slept, and so be done with him and all this ridiculous
running about from place to place. And indeed, when Gaius Cassius did finally approach the city on top of a hill where a wise man ruled, the Sun had just begun to rise, and the first foul had not yet crowed the day and all the townspeople were still asleep in the company of their dreams.
So Gaius Cassius crossed the river and climbed the hill and entered the City Gate, where he passed the Wise Man just as he was coming out of his house.
“Ah, I see it is you at last!” cried the wise man. “We heard you were coming. And well indeed I know the man you seek. Proceed to the last house on this street.
I am quite certain that when you enter that house, the Fool will be inside with his wife.”
So Gaius Cassius crept quietly to the silent house. And he snuck with the stealth of a sly fox through an open window ready to catch this fool and show him finally and for all time who the greatest Fool of all fools in the land might truly be. But then, Gaius Cassius heard the familiar laughter of a woman near by.
And there indeed did Gaius Cassius behold his own wife standing before him,
and his own open window, and his own dark and silent house. And then the Wise Man, who ruled the village on the hill, bordering and great and ancient forest by the river
that had its gates shut tight against a coming storm entered the house, shaking with laughter
and wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes.
“And now you see, Gaius Cassius,” he said, “Your quest has most certainly found the greatest success! And you shall never again suffer any rivals to your throne. For most assuredly,
there is no greater Fool at large in the land, than you!.”

THE TALE OF THE OLD MERCHANT

An old merchant awoke to the first kiss of a radiant sun upon his face. He rose a free man. He noted the direction and bite of the North Wind upon his naked flesh and he smiled, for he knew that this was to be his last day of life upon the Earth. So he bathed himself slowly and with great pleasure as though he were a king upon the day of his coronation. He dressed in his most loved and sumptuous robes. He feasted as a victorious prince upon all manner of delicacies. He stopped at length upon the square and boisterously shared the news of the day with the gathering of scholars and left them all laughing in tears and calling for his hasty return.
He played with the city’s children in the dusty streets, he bought for them sweets and told them numerous of his best loved tales. He openly praised his business partners and his rivals alike
and he healed an ancient feud between mortal enemies. He wrote the most brilliant and dazzling tale of his long and colorful career and told it for free in the market place. He paid homage to God his Lord and declared his deepest devotions to Him above all things else in his life. He walked many miles quickly and in silence and alone and then he took a long swim naked in a cold stream. He reread the favored passages of his most loved author he made many notes upon them and he smiled. He gave alms to every beggar whom he met
and he bought herbs for a poor widow known only to him by reputation.
He bought the household slaves of his neighbor and then gave them their freedom. He drank and danced with childhood friends in a wine shop. He made love to his wife so passionately and with such absolute abandon that she wept and cried out to the God that he must have been replaced by an angel. He prepared a banquet for his friends and neighbors with his own hands. And at last the Sun fled from his sight and the Moon rose languidly to Her place of ascendancy within the starlit embrace of heaven and then the old merchant gently lay himself down upon the sweet Earth of his youth and closed his eyes.
The next morning, the old merchant awoke to the first kiss of a radiant sun upon his face. He rose a free man. He noted the direction and bite of the North Wind upon his naked flesh and he smiled, for he knew that this was to be his last day of life upon the Earth.