Poetry

MUN photo

By

Andrew Hubbard

Rogue Coyote

The old, lean, rangy coyote

At the back of our woodlot,

I have to shoot him.

He killed our cat,

He terrorizes our chickens,

He has to go.

It won’t be hard:

I know his territory,

I know his habits.

I pull on the scuffed leather work boots

With thirty years of service

And fresh, new laces

(Thanks to the wife),

And load the rifle,

Also thirty years of service

And as comfortable to my hand

As an old glove.

My dog sees the preparations

And begs to come along.

He twirls in circles

(Always clockwise. Explain that)

Rears, and paws the air.

Suddenly it’s complicated.

Do you take along a dog

To shoot a coyote?

Where is the affinity?

Who, in the very end,

Is on the side of whom?

I contemplate this for some time

Feeling, frankly, a little silly

Then unload the gun

And stand it in the corner.

I’ll just take the dog for a walk

He’s so worked up.

I didn’t like the cat

That much anyway.

Meeting the Moon Halfway

The moon collects souls

I’m sure of it

Certain select souls

Graded for purity

Fidelity….Honor

Integrity….Intensity.

That’s where I want to go

But not yet, not close to yet

For now, I’d like to test the journey

And meet the moon halfway.

I’d like to get the way clear

So when the time is ready

I can find it with ease

And rest with those who went before.

The ones

I cannot name

For grieving.

Andrew Hubbard

Andrew Hubbard was born and raised in a coastal Maine fishing village. He earned degrees in English and Creative Writing from Dartmouth College and Columbia University, respectively.

For most of his career he has worked as Director of Training for major financial institutions, creating and delivering Sales, Management, and Technical training for user groups of up to 4,000.

He has had four prose books published, and his fifth and sixth books, collections of poetry, were published in 2014 and 2016 by Interactive Press.

He is a casual student of cooking and wine, a former martial arts instructor and competitive weight lifter, a collector of edged weapons, and a licensed handgun instructor.  He lives in rural Indiana with his family, two Siberian Huskies, and a demon cat.