Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Paul Muldoon's poem "The Coyote" is a vivid and evocative exploration of the intersections between the wild and the domestic, the past and the present, and the subtle tensions that exist in the natural world as well as in human relationships. Through rich imagery and a fluid narrative, Muldoon paints a scene that is at once familiar and unsettling, inviting readers to reflect on the hidden connections and disconnections in life.

The poem begins with the image of a coyote "veering down the track," its movement likened to "a girl veering down a cobbled street / in the meat-packing district." This comparison immediately situates the coyote in a human context, blending the wild animal with an urban, almost cinematic scene. The girl’s "high heels from the night before" and "black shawl of black-tipped hairs" evoke a sense of leftover glamor and vulnerability, which is mirrored in the coyote’s cautious navigation of its environment. The use of "veering" suggests an unpredictable and possibly dangerous journey, one that the coyote shares with the human figure it is compared to.

The mention of "that fluorescent ring / spray-painted on an even stretch of blacktop" introduces a mysterious and possibly ominous symbol. This ring, reminiscent of childhood games where one might play "keepsies," contrasts with the adult world hinted at earlier. It serves as a marker of something lost or abandoned, a space where innocence once existed but now only a trace remains. The coyote, avoiding this ring, suggests an instinctive wariness, an avoidance of traps or symbols of human intrusion into the natural world.

The poem then shifts to a more domestic scene with Angus, "the dog lying in a heap on our porch / like a heap of clothes lying beside a bed." This simile further blurs the line between the human and the animal, making Angus’s presence both familiar and strangely intimate. The description of Angus as "slubber-furred, slammerkin, backbone showing through" paints a picture of neglect or survival, hinting at a past marked by hardship. Angus, like the coyote, carries the scars of his experiences, with his "cloudy, flaw-fleckered marble" eye representing both physical and metaphorical blindness.

The revelation that Angus is blind in the eye "between him and the coyote" adds a layer of tension to the poem. This blindness, unknown when Angus was brought home, symbolizes the hidden vulnerabilities that exist between all living beings. The eye, flawed and cloudy, becomes a metaphor for the imperfect and incomplete ways in which we perceive the world and each other.

The poem concludes with the image of Angus’s eye "now turning on you and me, / taking in the spray-painted ring where you and I knuckle down." This final image brings the reader back to the symbolic ring on the blacktop, connecting it to the speaker and their companion. The phrase "knuckle down" evokes both the seriousness of childhood games and the adult need to confront challenges. The ring, once a place of play, now becomes a site of reflection, where the past and present converge, and where the coyote’s wildness, Angus’s scars, and the speaker’s introspection all intersect.

"The Coyote" is a meditation on the ways in which the wild and the domestic, the past and the present, and the human and the animal are intertwined. Muldoon’s use of rich, layered imagery invites readers to consider the hidden connections that shape our lives, the scars that mark our experiences, and the ways in which we navigate the world’s uncertainties. The poem captures a moment of quiet reflection, where the ordinary becomes infused with meaning, and where the presence of a coyote on a track can evoke a complex web of associations and emotions.

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