Coyotes Sleep Out Back, or Peace Be With You

The first night in the new house
     animals danced in the shadows
just on the other side of the fence.

What you could see was this:
     moving darknesses within unmoving pitch.
Reflective dots catching moonshine,
     showing us our watchedness.

This was how they presented the choice. 
    So when they howled, I howled back.
Yes, neighbor, and also with you. 

Madeleine Lamm holds Creative Writing Degrees from Columbia University (BA) and the University of Oxford (MSt with Distinction). She has attended the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop, and her poetry has been published in journals including Wet Grain, Chargé d'affaires, The Vanity Papers, and the California State Poetry Society's California Quarterly. Previously, Madeleine has been an editor at the Columbia Review and a ghostwriter.

Published July 15 2024