Randy Mackin

Randy Mackin teaches in the English Department at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the author of George Scarbrough: Appalachian Poet, and editor of the Buffalo River Review, a weekly newspaper in Linden, Tennessee.

Traps

Coyotes dangled like Christmas ornaments from the tree. Coup D. Gracen closed the gate and stopped beside his pickup to admire his work. He didn’t take credit for inventing this trap—someone else somewhere must have tried it too—but he had perfected it: 150-pound test fishing line and 14 ought treble hooks triple-knotted and baited with pig liver. The limb would break before Coup’s tackle gave way.

Issue 60, April 2022

Randy Mackin

Randy Mackin teaches in the English Department at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the author of George Scarbrough: Appalachian Poet, and editor of the Buffalo River Review, a weekly newspaper in Linden, Tennessee.

Traps

Coyotes dangled like Christmas ornaments from the tree. Coup D. Gracen closed the gate and stopped beside his pickup to admire his work. He didn’t take credit for inventing this trap—someone else somewhere must have tried it too—but he had perfected it: 150-pound test fishing line and 14 ought treble hooks triple-knotted and baited with pig liver. The limb would break before Coup’s tackle gave way.

Issue 60, April 2022

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