My dog, my furry agitation who bit and clawed
Her clumsy way from my heels into my weary heart.
Leash in your mouth you led me astray
And played dead when it was time,
Napping the day away, rubbing your back against the grass.
You howling upstart who snuck past the gate upstairs at night
And rushed into my room with eager paws.
Food, you barked. Then an ultimatum.
Either feed me or play with me.
And when you finished and I still ate, I felt
Your curious snout placed upon my lap for alms.
Always eating first and thinking second.
How many times I scolded you, how little you listened.
Always the first to greet me, always the last to behave.
Your fur, the color of a winter night that shed just as much.
Your eyes watching what I would do next and such.
Your ears, pointed, alert to my call for meals.
Your paws, dirty, uncouth but soft to feel.
My moody wonderball leaping through the
Unaccounted years to catch the midair sun
That fell too quickly to the ground
Where you laid sniffing, panting, fighting, heaving.
Your tail stiff, your eyes wandering elsewhere.
My friend, my blessing, my loveable heartache.
