A poem for the day

 

I have been reading a lot of Leslie Norris poetry lately, and it put me in the mood to try some myself. My humble offering for your reading pleasure:

Brio

I tap at my keyboard, notebook and mug at hand.

The dog drapes himself over my feet under the table,

deep in boneless sleep until I shift, or sniff, or click the laptop off.

Instantly, he’s on his feet, alert, attentive,

ready as any sheep dog responding to a whistle.

You understand sleep was a ruse.

 

His work is self-defined, an unbroken vigilance,

a militant agreement I don’t recall making.

He is dedicated to his job as much as I.

When I say he needn’t rise, he rolls his eyes, ignores me.

Of course I’m coming with you.

His work is to disdain coat or boots and accompany me

to the mailbox in the cold, to the park

to corral the ball I repeatedly let escape,

to the kitchen to clean up the food scraps I drop.

Careless woman! Without me, you’d lose everything.

 

Ferocious defender against buzzing flies, doorbells, mail carriers,

distant sirens, squirrels passing the window.

He presses between me and the threatening hickory nuts

I’m obviously holding at bay with a hammer.

I won’t let them get you.

When he senses I’m lonely, it’s his job to bring a toy,

put his warm, comforting head on my knee.

Once when I lay coughing on the couch,

he crawled onto my chest, staring intently into my eyes,

willing me to stillness.

 

His job also to chaperone me in the bathroom,

lying outside the shower with worried eyes,

in case danger lurks, ready to spring.

Why would you pull a curtain between us?

Don’t you know I must keep my eyes on you at all times?

At night he sleeps curled against the back of my knees,

fending off evil dreams.

 

-          Kristen McKendry