Near Halloween
He turned thirteen

Buddy boy born,
It’s a good boy yarn:

Came to us as an adolescent
Eager, fun, ever present

Present for the scent
Of every teaching treat

Sit, stay, come, heel…
(The last one meant walk, walk WALK!

Down to the park!
Smelling all my neighbors!)

But Halloween was hard
Doorbells, voices, lights,

Mobs of noisy people
Invading his protected spaces

Lunging! Barking!
Instinct loosed!

He learned, through the kids,
The “trick or treat”

Then he learned to love it all!
Licking costumed faces

Sniffing ***** bags
For obedience treats

It used to be hard with every doorbell dash
To control big golden yellow buddy boy

As we, and he, got older
(he quicker, the 7 to 1 brief flicker)

We relaxed our grip on him
As he mingled with wizards and goblins

When the next mob of kids arrive
Your SpongeBobs, your Vader’s, your Ghostie-ghouly space invaders

No tricks, a real treat: a new generation meets
Mellow yellow buddy boy saying, “Hi"