Last Howl
~ Glacier Peak Wilderness ~

-- In Alpenglow --

When I hear them (coyotes) howling to one another at sunset or on moonlit nights that are star-bright, I am forever at ease with the feeling that the wild still exists in its pure raw form. And in my tent this night I can hear them: lonesome howls through the night, answering one another yonder and afar 'till the morning light.....

Coyotes song by Don Edwards

Was a cowboy I knew in south Texas
His face was burnt deep by the sun
Part history, part sage, part mesquit
He was there when Poncho Villa was young

And he'd tell you a tale of the old days
When the country was wild all around
Sit out under the stars of the Milky Way
And listen while the coyotes howl

And they go... poo yip poo yip poo
poodi hoo di yip poo di yip poo
poo yip poo yip poo
poodi hoo di yip poo di yip poo

Now the long horns are gone
And the drovers are gone
The Comanche's are gone
And the outlaws are gone
Geronimo is gone
And Sam Bass is gone
And the lion is gone
And the Red Wolf is gone

Well he cursed all the roads and the oil men
And he cursed the automobile
Said this is no place for an hombre like I am
In this new world of asphalt and steel

Then he'd look off some place in the distance
At something only he could see
He'd say all that's left now of the old days
Those damned old coyotes and me

And they go poo yip poo yip poo
poodi hoo di yip poo di yip poo
poo yip poo yip poo
poodi hoo di yip poo di yip poo

Now the long horns are gone
And the drovers are gone
The Comanche's are gone
And the outlaws are gone
Now Quantro is gone
Stan Watie is gone
And the lion is gone
And the Red Wolf is gone
*And Treadwell is gone*

One morning they searched his adobe
He disappeared without even a word
But that night as the moon crossed the mountain
One more coyote was heard

And he'd go, poo yip poo yip poo
poodi hoo di yip poo di yip poo
poo yip poo yip poo
poodi hoo di yip poo di yip poo

poo yip poo yip poo
poodi hoo di yip poo di yip poo
poo yip poo yip poo
poodi hoo di yip poo di yip poo

*denotes addition as sung by the pilot in
story of the Grizzly Man, Timothy Treadwell who was killed and eaten (along with his girl
friend Amie Huguenard) at the Grizzly Maze,
Alaska's Katmai National Park in Oct. 2003.

Ken James McLeod
(McPilchuck)
Aug. 18, 2005

©

KJM

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