My snowball-like puppy barks like a bird,
Whenever that sparrow enters my window
Like a sudden sunray of winter.
She perches on a luminous spot
To sing him the sweetness of nature, that
She composed when dawn kissed her feathers.
He rhythmically stirs air with his thin white tail,
And concentrates ******* imitating
The morning song of little sparrow.
Days walk like this on my room
Resonating with their twittering symphony.
Now I think, maybe it's not only a music lesson
But a chapter of learning the secrecy of flying.
'Cause yesterday afternoon I dreamt,
My puppy flew out of the open window
With his two new glittering wings of sparrow,
Singing the brightest song of freedom.

Waiting all winter here
For summer to arrive
So we can go on every ride;
So good to be alive.
No more cold weather
Summer’s here, so are we
From morning until night
Playing continuously.

Hershey bars, bumper cars
Popcorn and a coke.
Maybe the operator
Will go out for a smoke.
Leaving us up high again
Way up on the top
Making us wish this all
Will go on and never stop.

The Fun House is just that,
As is the Tunnel of Love,
And the parachute ride
Drops us from above.
The House of Mirrors
Shows who we are not
And distorts our views
Of the bodies we’ve got.

Hershey bars, bumper cars
Popcorn and a coke.
Maybe the operator
Will go out for a smoke.
But first stop it high again
With us up on the top
Making us wish this all
Will go on and never stop.

Throwing ***** at targets
Like famous baseball stars
Wins us some ugly toys
We take home in our car
For some goodnight kisses
And after a perfect day,
Wish as hard as we can
That it would never go away.

Hershey bars, bumper cars
Popcorn and a coke.
Maybe the operator
Will go out for a smoke.
Leaving us up high again
Way up on the top
Making us wish this all
Will go on and never stop.

I think perhaps the saddest thing,
that happens when you lose a dog.
Is you know you're gonna stop seeing there hairs,
but you still don't see it coming,
when it hits you,
you haven't has a hair on your coght,
in months.

I've mentioned the new puppy before
so it won't come as a surprise
that I'm reading a book about how dogs think.
I want to know how the flea collar feels
around his thickening neck, next to the skull
and crossbones collar, and why he tucks
his tail under when he sleeps,
and if when he is, for a few hours, in the crate,
which seems cozy enough, he devises
a plan to pay me back for this captivity.
I want to understand his relentless
drive to be where I am, to trod down the hall
and back again with his heavy paws
("That is going to be a big dog," everyone says)
even into the bathroom, which I typically
prefer to be private.

He won't go out in the rain unless
I'm standing out there too, both of us soaked
to the bone. He won't sleep without one eye
on me if I move from the space beside him.
Why would this animal
devote himself to me so utterly, I who
really can't be trusted not to throw shoes
or swat a nose when his love bites bite
too hard.  I who throw a fit about the ***
just inside the door, I who deny him access
to the cat.  I who write poems
about his private life and study him like a ******,
while he goes on sleeping.

"What's going on," my love said to the puppy
and me. "Everybody's up at 5 a.m.?
In the dark, we all went out to the backyard
where crickets hummed and the pool lay waiting,
and the damp grass welcomed our bare feet.
Every new day, every morning cup of steaming
coffee, every couch cuddle convinces me that a happy
life begins with a renewed sense of wonder at how darkness
shapes and frames the rising sun of love.

First saw you when I was 10
Didn't even care back then
We met again when I was 13
Something tagged in my heart strings

Then we became friends
You used to tease me everyday
We'd sit in the back of class
Exchange jokes, stories, ideas

When I was 14 you tried to court me
And I said no, you're kidding
No, my parents won't let me
No, i'm not ready

Now i'm 19
I see you happy with her
I can see she really loves you
And I know you love her too

So sometimes I wonder
If I had given us a chance
Would I be that one beside you today
Would I be the one making you laugh
Instead of that girl



© Leigh Herondale  *July 2015

dog-paddling
in zero gee
   my beagle

Day was very sunny,
Old Jet felt so funny,
Old black lab, muzzle grey,
His family off to work today,
Left alone, watchdog to keep,
Old Jet lay down to sleep,
His gait was slow,
Not much get up and go,
Jet slumbered on,
Not too long,
His canine dreams bemusing,
Flashbacks Old Jet perusing,
Brilliant happy companion days,
Lots of fun and rambling plays,
Ben was his best loved lad,
Now Jet's unofficial dad,
His loyalty never wavered,
Yes, Ben he always favoured,
Pats and hugs and lots of snacks,
All kindness, time to relax,
Old Jet's breathing slowed,
Snoring on, time to go,
Asleep in the sun, one deep sigh,
No one home to say goodbye,
No drama, no fuss,
Old Jet's no longer with us,
His long life over,
Puppy Heaven for old rover,
Old Jet had breathed his last,
Finally, Jet had passed.

Let me breathe you in
Take a deep inhale rolling back my shoulders
And get your hair in my nose
Get every inch of you inside of me
Because I never want to forget you
And seeing you tomorrow will not be the same as loving you today
So let me breathe you in
Let me swallow you
Take a big gulp of your lips
Send your fingers down the wrong tube on purpose
Taste all of your juices
Because I need to know that you haven't changed
That the you you were last time we were here is the you you are this time
So let me swallow you
Let me paint you
With a brush the size of a fountain pin
So I can get every detail right
While I'm painting your thoughts
Because I can't imagine you any different
With hopes and dreams that still get painted green on canvas, red on paper, orange on bibles
So let me paint you
Let me remember you
Never forget your shoe collection
Your backpacks or your hair ties
Finding you in every lobe my brain has
Because I can't imagine a thought without you
Without the glow of kids in castles in your smile and the warmth of Kansas City in your arms
So let me remember you