Cold Lang Syne

The coyotes
celebrated New Year’s Eve
down by
the frozen lake.

Their singing
at midnight
woke us
from a deep sleep
snug in our tent
piled high
with bags, blankets, and clothes.

I’ve never heard
so devilish a song
so demented an
Auld Lang Syne.

Just when you feared
they might devour us,

the coyotes drove off
in their red minivan
with the bumper sticker that read
“Eat More Sheep” mjh


Listen to Cold Lang Syne (28 seconds)

Of course, there’s a story to go with this…..

It was 12/31/94. We drove from Albuquerque to San Francisco to visit my brother and sister-in-law. Little did we realize that every federal property would be closed by the Gingrinch that stole Xmas during the first Shutdown.

We drove across the Sierras for the first time, convertible top down, newly patched radiator, heater full blast, snow 6 feet deep on either side of the road. That night we camped in a closed campground in sight of a ski resort across a beautiful lake. We built a nest of clothes, etc. And the coyotes did wake us. Too cold to get paper and pen, I repeated a line over and over in my head, hoping to recall it the next day. mjh

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