THE COYOTE

I saw him hobbling across the open field behind two buildings
a policeman stood behind
a fair distance from away
his rifle in hand
the very rifle I assumed
that had taken away the use of his right rear leg
the policeman aimed for another shot
fired and missed
if he could just make it to the corn field two blocks away
he would probably be safe
the policeman got into his car and took off
no doubt
to go around the block toward the other side of the field
I prayed that he would be too late
watched the coyote struggling on
and realized
that each of us is pursued
not by a policeman with a rifle
but by relentless time
we all know that it will catch us
maybe now before we reach the cornfield
maybe later as we hobble on
struggling toward possible oblivion or possible immortality
the only sure knowledge we have
is that the door will open and that we will have to go through it
the coyote disappeared behind one of the buildings
and I drove on toward home