Today I found three armadillos
The dogs had killed

They drug them home and humbly left them
In homage to the Lord of their castle

I got my shovel and carried them
Far enough away from the house
That I would not smell the stink.

I used to bury them
But the dogs thought it a game
Dug them up and returned them to me.

So I threw them in the lake for a while.
They sank like little submarines
I quit doing that when I started swimming

I walked by the carcasses yesterday
They were all covered with flies.

Today I sit on the porch
The dogs alert to some intruder.
They are very excited so I’ll check it out.

The intruder is a trio of buzzards.
The dogs are beside themselves.
They chase them off.

As I return to the house
I wonder about the complex webs of ecology.
Are the dogs in concert with the flies?