Joshue Tree National Park, CA

I was lying on a rock looking at the stars and enjoying a silence I haven’t heard in a long time when a coyote started to sing. It couldn’t have been more than a few hundred yards away and at first it startled me. As I listened, though, I began to hear it differently. It started out harsh and grating then became something more. Each cry would begin as a bark, almost a yelp, and then would stretch into a declaration. He seemed to be saying, “I am here, if only for a moment.” It was the last bit that really got me, though. It dropped into a mournful lament, rife with sadness. It was as if he had lost a companion and his cries soared across that desert canyon to lay his friend to rest. After several minutes of song he stopped and disappeared back into the dark silence of the desert leaving only his echo and I wondered if he had even been there at all.