"Create the poem that will describe the moment
As only you can" ~ Jaha Zainabu, from "Dear Poets"
Solomon is not an easy dog to walk:
he prefers to saunter along beside you
unleashed, as if he has something worth saying,
worth you knowing, but only if you take the collar off
and let him choose to follow close at your heels
He's a good off-leash dog in that way
He'll gladly follow but he wants it to be
his choice, and he's not interested
in the Dog Whisperer's
way of doing things.
Otherwise, Solomon sometimes yanks on the leash
trying to pull you into another direction
make decisions that belong to alpha dogs
and remind you that leashes are in some way
slavery, binding and this stubborn stance
where he bears down, paws firmly planted
is only to remind you that he knows this fact
is true, even if you're trying to pretend
that leashes are the most natural things
in the world for dogs to wear
Solomon looks up at me as the ambulance
rushes by, startled by the siren
confused by my lack of concern
or fear that the siren means something
more than morning noise disrupting
the mindlessness of this walk
he looks at me like: "do you HEAR that?"
and of course I do, but how do you
explain to the Yorkie that you've
gotten used to the sound of trauma
or death or hospital codes
and they don't startle you
like they used to, or like they ought.
© Valerie Bridgeman
January 11, 2013
My heart. Hmmm. As if leashes are the most natural things for dogs to wear. I love that. It made me think about horse shoes. Horse shoes make me cry. (Maybe that will be my next poem? Anyway...) Thank you for this. I love poems that make me think they are about walking the dog and then remind me that I should me much much more alarmed at the sound of sirens.
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