I wrote my sonnet Coyote and Badger in response to the W3 Prompt #129. The Poet of the Week, Carol Anne, (read her winning poem here) invites us to write a sonnet on the theme of Friendship.
Click here to read the full prompt guidelines
Carol Anne’s prompt guidelines
Theme: ‘Friendship’ – you can write about best friends, lost friends, childhood friends, making friends, etc., etc.
Form:Sonnet
Click HERE for guidance: ‘What Is a Sonnet?’
My poem is based on a true story.
Coyote and Badger
Every night the badger and the coyote
Meet at the conduit by the grassy hill,
The coyote with patience waits, until…
His old friend, Badger, scurries o’er the scree,
“You’re late again, my friend,” spake Coyote,
Badger pants, ‘And yet, you await me still,”
“I’ll always wait for thee—and always will,
Come! ‘Tis time to hunt! Follow me, prithee!”
They enter the conduit under the road,
A dark-shadowed tunnel they both know well,
From jaunty strides, they quicken to full speed
T’ward their prey—passing by a wayward toad—
They hunt as one, under a full moon’s spell,
Coyote and badger—best friends indeed.
Lesley Scoble, October 2024
Timelapse video (20 secs) of my digital pencil sketch of coyote and badger
My sonnet is based on a true story
The inspiration for this poem comes from a friendship/hunting partnership between a coyote and a badger in Coyote Valley, San José, CA.
Fixed cameras from the Open Space Authority filmed their alliance in the Coyote Valley Open Preserve.
You can view Coyote and Badger on YouTube. The video shows coyote and badger on a mission. It is heartwarming footage where you see the coyote waiting for badger at the entrance to the tunnel underpass. When badger shows up, he looks delighted, and they both bound off into the tunnel together.
Is my sonnet a Petrarchan or Miltonic Sonnet?
Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)
I wrote my sonnet in the Petrarchan form. It has an octave with an abba, abba, rhyme scheme, followed by a sestet which has a cde, cde (or cdc, dcd) rhyme scheme. Petrarchan Sonnets tend to focus on romance and love themes.
John Milton (1608-1674)
My sonnet may also have a touch of the Miltonic sonnet about it. Milton’s sonnet is the same layout as the Petrarchan sonnet, but Milton uses enjambment (and I wrote a couple of those).
The Miltonic’s sonnets tend to focus on faith, political/ social themes. Find out about the sonnet forms here
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks to Poet of the Week, Carol Anne, for your inspiring ‘Friendship’ prompt.
My gratitude to David, The Skeptics Kaddish, for hosting your inspirational poetry prompts.
Last but not least, my thanks to you, dear reader, for reading! As this week’s prompt is friendship, I should also like to thank all my new friends among this brilliant network of poets that I stumbled across through David’s introduction.
Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; mime artist; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.
LesleyScoble.com 
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