Notes About The Poem

The sections of the poem capture one of those moments when things seem to be going well, and someone or something pops up to undermine and maybe steal away your happiness.

The Dog Came

# 7
 
the dog came to see me the other day
and he pissed all over my
left shoestring
i can't stand to have someone
get my left shoestring wet
i think i would have begged him
to pee on my right shoestring
but the bastard never gave me a chance
to ask


# 13

i remember the old man
asking why i wrote poetry
can't make a living doing that he said
i asked
why do you go foxhunting
can't make a living doing that
he evaporated into the air
while drying his left shoelace


# 21

the dog ran swiftly down the
street
         looking
the dog ran swiftly down the street
		     in a hurry
the dog ran swiftly down the street
		      looking
i outdogged him this
	       time
	             maybe
my left shoestring is up the street


# 26

the dog came
to me
the other day
you know the
one
i
wrote about
20 years ago
and he
hobbled
barely able to move
looked up at
me
in that
recognizable way
and slowly
in his
old age
lifted
his leg
over
my
shoe
left one for sure


 #27

you might think
the dog would have found
a new paradigm 
a fresh method of doing business
after all we have progressed into the digital age
but no
even as I come to the end of my
eighty-fourth year
the dog
yes, the same one
that found me
below the fourth sub-basement library
of plays at the University of Kansas
some 57 years ago
offering no excuses.
curls up on my bed
apologizes for the bladder doings
looks up
daring me to set this
Little Set of Poems to type
to tell his story and mine
before slumbering
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

Poem

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July 26, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Got em, Michael! The left shoestring really ties these poems together (swidt), such a funny, honest little detail that makes the dog’s antics feel so personal and real.
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