Never had a dog
\n(never wanted a dog
\nas you will see)
\nbut that is not to say
\nthat dogs did not have me.<\/p>\n
A very early memory
\nI must have been three or four
\nI was laying flat on the sidewalk
\nin front of Susie McKee’s place
\nmy shoulders pinned down
\nby the huge dog
\nits big black muzzle
\nready to bite my face<\/p>\n
The older kids, all standing around
\nas I screamed, terrified…
\nwhy weren’t they rescuing me?<\/p>\n
I obviously survived
\nas this memory attests.
\nSo whoever you were
\nand whoever your big dog was
\nyou’re all forgiven
\nnone of you knew what to do
\nand your big dog too<\/p>\n
A few years later, I met Barney
\nthe dark and stormy
\ncocker spaniel
\nHe lived across the street
\nand barked at me relentlessly
\nand chased my bicycle
\nand every other kid’s bicycle
\nand all the passing cars
\nuntil one day he was run over
\nand I was relieved.<\/p>\n
Of course I grew up
\nand coped with dogs
\nand avoided dogs
\nand even petted dogs
\nand spoke to them
\nso patronizingly.<\/p>\n
I pretended to like them
\nalways trying to figure out
\nhow to forge some uneasy truce
\nbefore there could be
\nany misunderstandings
\nbecause you never know.<\/p>\n
For every nine houses on the block
\nfour have dogs and five do not
\nand those who do
\nare likely to have two.
\nFurious furry forces of nature
\nwaiting for you
\nwhen you knock at the door
\nprogrammed to pounce
\nready to chew.<\/p>\n
Sure, the pup who claws
\nits way to your heart
\nis just a cute ball
\nof muscular fuzz
\nwith four paws
\nand two jaws
\nbut he doesn’t bite
\nhe never does
\nsays the owner
\nholding the leash tight.<\/p>\n
Here I must pen
\nthe inevitable end
\nof this poetical blog:
\nyou and I may be friends
\nbut my hand does not extend
\nto your obnoxious dog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Never had a dog (never wanted a dog as you will see) but that is not to say that dogs did not have me. A very early memory I must have been three or four I was laying flat on … Continue reading