Steven Sher
Coyotes in Brooklyn

“Ah-oo,” my father
used to jest when asked
his shy opinion. “Ah-oo”—
seeing the dress my mother
hemmed, my sister’s pink
salutatorian ensemble.
“Ah-oo”—over new coats
and shoes. “Ah-oo”—
when mom returned
home from “The Beauty”
bleached and set.
“Ah-oo”—in praise
of supper on the table,
deeply breathing in the steam.
“Ah-oo”—reserved
for soups he claimed
that he could bathe in.
“Ah-oo”—when normal
words would never do.
“Ah-oo”—he shoos
the silence from my
mind tonight, a cry
now heard across
two worlds. “Ah-oo,”
I answer when he calls.


          


  Steven Sher is a native of Brooklyn who recently returned to NYC after many years on the West Coast. He is the author of 13 books including , most recently, Where the Shouting Began (original Jewish folktales, Montemayor Press, 2009), The House of Washing Hands  (poems about Jewish life in the Pacific Northwest, Pecan Grove Press, forthcoming late 2010) and The Skipping Stone  (poems, Finishing Line Press, forthcoming late 2010).
                                               
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