Winter was cold living on the land
But the teepee that Willow kept
Was as warm as anybody could ask for
Because Moon Cow was such a crafter
Willow naturally had the skill too
And we had luxuries like fur and hides
And a makeshift bed frame to keep us off the ground
Yet no amount of furs or soup
Could make each cold frozen step
Through the snow, warm.
I awoke one night to coyotes howling
They were real close
I could practically feel them standing on my bed
I could hear a baby crying
So I knew I wasn’t the only one to have woken
Willow stirred and I looked at Lily
And she had her eyes wide open
Looking a little bit scared
I threw on my jacket and grabbed a torch
And stepped outside the teepee to see what was happening
It was a clear night and I could see my breath
As the beautiful waxing gibbous lit the earth, unobstructed.
There were five of them
Pacing back and forth
Just on the edge of our encampment
They jumped at the firelight
But stayed hovering around
I picked up a snowball and threw it
Which landed close to two of them
They looked at me for a moment
And I threw another one which hit one in the back
It was stunned for a second
Letting out a little bit of a yelp
But then got back up and it seemed to me
The other coyotes were laughing at it,
I threw another and made a howling noise at it
Trying to scare it off
They withdrew further into the brush
At the other side of the opening
By this time one of the other men
Were outside with me
He had brought out his bow and arrow
And started shooting at them
Yelling some words that I couldn’t understand
The coyotes obviously did
And before long they were trotting away.