Three dogs at the groomers, three hours till there done
go out to eat lunch, have Italian tasty and fun
Entrees served, cell phone rings
Kublai's eye bleeding, doggie bags they bring
Get Kublai to the vet, has pulps on his eyelid
surgery to remove them, clean teeth as he's out on meds
Back to the groomers Ghenghis barking up a storm
Sassy nervous growls as trimming her nails performed
Ghenghis happy to see me looks like a puppy all prim
Sassy frighten harder to get her in kennel second time
Home with those two back to the vet
Kublai ready to go home in my lap he sit
His eyelid fixed and had two teeth pulled
Kublai wearing a cone feeling like a fool
He got stuck under a end table wouldn't back up
the cone came off Kublai as Ghenghis sniffed his butt
Kublai in a deep sleep Sassy licks his eye
Ghenghis begging as I eat my Italian wanting a bite to try.
Two rust-red tubes running up the hillside,
by the wood's edge, hidden just in the trees,
they have water, and compressed air inside,
pumped up the mountain to hydrants steely.
Hoses conduct it to tall silver tubes,
snow guns that spray the white stuff on the trail,
coating brown grasses, hiding them from view,
building tall piles that some call snow-whales.
The groomers will come and flatten them out,
leave corduroy patterns on the long slope,
the skiers will come and race on a cloud,
they don’t like to wait when winter is slow.
One must be consistent in a business,
take five Mother Nature, we have got this.
At first I thought that we humans have it much better than our pets
because we have many different types of doctors
that know how to treat all our growing old aches and pains.
Then I remembered that our dogs and cats have doctors too
who treat the same elderly problems.
Then I was logically forced to recognize a difference;
our pets can’t use the telephone to make an appointment
and can’t drive to the emergency room
and can’t schedule regular checkups with a specialist.
All they can do is sit on our laps
and hope for the best.
Then common sense forced me to think
about the difference between being domesticated and being wild
and I started to feel bad for all the wild monkeys
that got sick during the day or at night.
They couldn‘t get medical support, they were wild!
Then I thought about camels and pigs and chickens
that could get medical support, they were domesticated!
Then I started to wonder about horses and goats and cows
and started to contemplate how veterinarians and groomers
get involved in determining the direction of their health.
That’s when I thought about a name tag titled Zoologist.
The dog is licking everywhere she can reach, tricky places.
Places I stay away from.
The dog is rolling, to squash something?
Obliterate fleas? Get rid of pests and parasites?
I watch in fascination, horrified, in a state of owner limbo.
She has had her flea baths, and I gave her the tick stuff this month, right?
I am wondering whether or not I should bathe her or take her to the groomers?
Her tongue begins a slow descent to her Neverland region.
Groomers it is then.
The dog got into the car
With me willingly, but
Was keening wailing
Before we ever arrived
At the groomers.
She looked at me like I
Was dumping her, which
Is ridiculous since we have
Had her for over five years,
And she is our completely
Spoiled baby.
I mentioned this to
My husband when I returned
Home, and he reminded me
That this dog had been
Dumped by two previous
Owners.
This was a long time
Ago, but apparently, she
Had tapped into this memory.
She returned home, all
Sassy and happy with
A biscuit-shaped bandana
Tied around her little neck.
The first thing she did
Was run up and smell the
Cat good and hard.
The cat Is always stunned
When the dog gets groomed, as
The dog looks like another
Dog.
This time she purred
And gave her a bit
Of neck to sniff.
All is right once again.
God has hidden great treasures
in vessels of seeming dishonor
who are out of funds, luck and favor
being different they incur our displeasure
Many stars are hiding in their shell
a beautiful soul masked as cursed
full of mistakes, failures and costs
allow our expectations to crumble to hell
Still many of these late bloomers
dream up a life many do envy
living beyond our rat-race slavery
they see our world with the eyes of groomers
Pruning our world with their dreams
thoughts, words, inventions and arts
from great deeds to such little acts
their legacy is to harvest our joyful screams
God has hidden star treasures
in odd vessels within plain sight
that we may learn to fear His might
learning not to incur His grave displeasure
Such lonely stars twinkle in the blue
heavenly treasures unknown to you.
Come take a tour,
of my grooming shop,
at poems end, I'm sure you'll agree,
were the best,
so forget the rest,
C'mon, read on, and see,
dogs all check in, in the morn,
looking all tattered and worn,
now let's trot down this path,
for a warm bubble bath,
swishing and swashing,
as we start dog washing,
now groomers try,
for that perfect fluff dry,
now moving on to snipping and clipping,
finishing off with shaping and tipping,
now lets go out for a pee,
by the old maple tree,
not a moment to lose,
back in for a snooze,
owners are called one by one,
to tell them that their pup is done,
owners arrive right away,
and we all wave goodbye,
as the pup's drive away.