The little cheap tattoo parlors
And the haircuts that advertise women barbers
With the Asian massage parlors
All conveniently placed areas of drugs and human trafficking
Located outside the fenced off gate.
Outside the streets,
in the fields of rock and dust,
the Coyotes hunt
and the Rattlesnakes wait.
While the black widows hide under the stones in shade.
I venture out,
even though told not to;
and as I do I take my knife with me.
I begin my hike to the base of the hill.
I see the coyotes moving around the boulders above me.
I start to walk on the rocks.
I hear the hissing of the snakes
so I begin to trot.
I start to climb up the side of the hill,
and begin to get to the top,
avoiding any dark shadowed areas.
Leaving the hissing behind me.
I get to the top and look out at the view.
The valley and the town below me.
I turn back and face the hill, and see an endless number more that I could climb.
The hill I’m on cuts off,
a ten foot gap between myself and the next hill.
On it stands a single coyote.
He stares, eyes locked at me.
And I stand still staring back.
Though I stand with my knife ready,
There’s a calmness to the tension.
The Coyote turns and walks away,
And I do the same.
Back down the hill.
Carefully going down over each rock.
Avoiding the snakes.