A Coyote Can Be Helpful
Dozens of persimmon trees hide out
on our wooded acreage. I refamilarize
myself with their pudding-like texture
& sweet taste – a mix of honey, mango
& apricot. Also inspired, my husband,
who never met a tree he didn’t want
to plant, decides to grow dozens.
He could buy seedlings from a nursery
that specializes in native plants
but for a challenge he chooses to “scarify”
the seeds, which can be a time-consuming
process. He says the best-growing
seeds are distressed by wild animal
droppings. He discovers coyote scat
with persimmons seeds on the trail
near the natural spring where wild turkeys,
deer, birds, bobcats & an occasional bear
sip & shit. Voila! Thanks to the acid
in the coyote’s intestines I will someday
fold the orange tang & mushy glow
of persimmons into my bread & pudding.
8 thoughts on "A Coyote Can Be Helpful"
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Yes! All other methods did not germinate. Love “birds, bobcats & an occasional bear” Oh my!
Thank God for coyote poop.
A fantastic poem nature’s way. I enjoyed this one a lot. Unique and engaging.
Really wonderful. The resourcefulness of that man never fails to astonish.
Fascinating!
Love:
the title
the humor:
my husband/who never met a tree he didn’t want
to plant, decides to grow dozens.
fav lines and words:
persimmon trees hide out
“scarify”
the seeds
and that glorious last stanza 🙂
Delicious in more ways than one!
You do realize that I shall be expecting a quart or two of persimmons this fall. 😋
I love this poem a lot. It’s evidence of your careful detail but also makes me think of poetry as another kind of managed ecosystem—every element playing its vital part.
Loved this! Thank you so much for this poem! It’s interesting that persimmons might need to animal scat in order to germinate and grow, but I can believe it. Many years ago, I propagated plum trees by burying the whole ripe fruit in the ground, having noticed how well the dropped fruit propagated and thrived and, before long, I had a half-acre plum orchard. But persimmons have long been my favorite. And woodpeckers love them, too.