busy"Flatter Than a Grass Mat"
Coyote played in the sandy canyons
long before the two-legged people came.
He chased birds and jackrabbits
and raced his shadow along the winding trails
in a puff of yellow dust.
When the people arrived,
they pitched tents and built pueblos
and made homes of many kinds.
Coyote walked among them,
sometimes as himself,
but other times on two legs
disguised as one of them,
telling jokes and bawdy stories
and playing pranks.
Sometimes his mischief
backfired on himself,
but Coyote just laughed it off.
Then new people came,
fighting with the old people
and driving most of them away.
Coyote wanted to play
with the new people.
He followed them
into their towns and cities,
their homes as square
as birch boxes.
He saw them telling funny stories
with paint and thin sheets as clear as air.
Coyote was a wily fellow,
and he was very good
at telling funny stories.
He worked his magic
and pressed himself
flatter than a grass mat,
slipping into place
with no one the wiser.
Once again, he ran
through the badlands
in a puff of dust,
this time chasing
a fellow trickster.
They never spoke,
playing out their pranks
all in pantomime.
They made things and
broke things and fixed things
as tricksters do,
changing the whole world
around them.
Wile E. Coyote,
the new people called him,
Supergenius --
even though he made
a fool of himself
more often than not.
They did not even notice
him teaching their children
the old lessons, a new way:
The world is what you make of it.
Learn to laugh at yourself.
Do not be so greedy.
Look before you leap,
or you will get yourself
squashed flatter than a grass mat.
* * *
Notes:
Wile E. Coyote is a famous cartoon character, who sometimes describes himself as "supergenius."
Coyote appears as a trickster figure in many tribal religions. He often falls from heights, sets himself on fire, or gets into other trouble. Back in college, I came across a traditional tale in which Coyote fell from a great height and was "squashed flatter than a grass mat." I finally found an online version, this time mentioning a willow mat. Wile E. Coyote often suffers the same fate -- but like tricksters and cartoon characters everywhere, always lives to tell the tale.
In Native American lore, the sacred number is four. In European cultures, it is three. This is why things like plot segments, tests, examples, and lessons customarily appear in those sets.
October 1 2013, 17:58:14 UTC 7 years ago
Thank you!
October 2 2013, 01:26:31 UTC 7 years ago
October 1 2013, 20:29:07 UTC 7 years ago
Rabbit too flattened himself and slipped into this new world, affecting a Brooklyn/Bronx accent and manners, and, strangely, adopted an insect's nickname... and learnt to walk like the two-legs.
"Nyeahhhhhhh, what's up, Doc?"
I used to not like trickster figures.... or thought I didn't... turns out I loved them all along. :)
*laugh*
October 2 2013, 01:27:49 UTC 7 years ago
October 1 2013, 20:55:03 UTC 7 years ago
Background artist extraordinaire
October 1 2013, 21:43:32 UTC 7 years ago
http://www.amazon.com/The-Noble-Approach-Maurice-Animation/dp/1452102945
Re: Background artist extraordinaire
October 1 2013, 23:14:57 UTC 7 years ago
Re: Background artist extraordinaire
October 1 2013, 23:21:24 UTC 7 years ago
Well...
October 2 2013, 01:25:12 UTC 7 years ago
October 18 2013, 09:33:11 UTC 7 years ago
Thank you!
October 19 2013, 06:41:28 UTC 7 years ago
Yay!
>> I like the continuing theme of being squashed & squeezing himself flatter than a grass mat. Also, laughing at yourself. :) <<
Those things are so very Coyote.
>> I never much liked those cartoons as a kid, but with this reading on Wile E. Coyote I can appreciate them more! <<
I'm glad I could increase your enjoyment of some of my favorite (in both versions) tales. There are more parallels than just what I mentioned -- not to mention the time a live coyote got hit by a car and survived nearly uninjured after riding for hundreds of miles in the grille. I figure Coyote was involved in that too.