Poem 16: My Dog

Before I am up in the morning, I see this face

Staring at me while invading my personal space

He has a long nose and a nice shiny coat

You’d wish he would ignore you, but you know he won’t

He waits patiently while I start to stir

Give a pat on his head and stroke his black fur

This is usually how my routine will begin

Try to avoid him? You’ll never win

Every move that I make just gets him more excited

Put the collar and leash on him, now he is delighted

It’s early morning just past daybreak

He’s already to go and I’m barely awake

He knows this route we travel everyday

Most of the time he’s the one who leads the way

When you are up this early, you hear every sound

There’s only the dog you can talk to, no one else is walking around

There are people in cars that will pass you by

They must look at me and wonder why

I’m not saying I’m ready right at the start

The energy seems to kick in once we depart

He is sniffing everything, at the start it is slow

While marking his territory wherever we go

This morning as usual this was the case

I gave his collar a tug to pick up the pace

He gets the message and then we proceed

Continue the walk at a comfortable speed

Yesterday I got through our walk without having to scoop which was nice

Today he’s made up for it, I had to perform this operation twice

With dexterity and a plastic bag I pick up every bit

Now listen to me, I’m talking shit

You do this because you are aware

While others with dogs just don’t seem to care

You see these piles wherever you walk

Out on the sidewalks or in the park

Sometimes you see the full plastic bag on the ground

You have to walk for blocks before a garbage can will be found

This is my personal beef in the city that I reside

I’ve just learned to accept it and take it in stride

We have lots of places to dispose them on our Main Street core

But take a look anywhere else, you won’t find many more

So if you can’t find any cans wherever you roam

Still pick up your mess and dispose of it at home

Gee I guess I had to get that out of my system for sure

I’m sorry, it’s something you shouldn’t have to endure

I am back to my walk now and we are almost done

I take him off the leash in the park and let him run

As I walk along the path, he darts back and forth

He is just giving it for all that he’s worth

His tongue is hanging out and he’s lost most of his power

Between the walk and the run it’s been over an hour

Now we head home at a leisurely stroll

He’s had enough exercise, I’ve reached my goal

Head up the front stairs and open the door

That’s when you find out that he is ready for more

He goes in his toy box and grabs a ball right away

He is not even near exhaustion, he still wants to play

He has so much energy that I wish I could borrow

I know I’m in for an encore when I wake up tomorrow