Dog of Sorrows (poem)
Dog of Sorrows
Dog of sorrows
Do you suppose they find you wanting
Panting with your upturned nose
Dripping spittle on the floor…your tongue you can’t
in decency contain
And cleanliness is most
Affecting to the human brain
(I speak, says Mr. Boots, as a keen observer)
It strokes them like a hand
And on their hands and knees I’ve seen them knead
Upon a stain
No, my puppet, it was you they had in mind
When the door was closed
And you were left behind
Afternoon, he sings to her: “Come into the bedroom, dog!
They have forgot to shut us out.”
“Mr. Boots, I have a name.”
“And yet you can’t say what it is.”
“And yet, I know. A song unfolds within me
Like the mother howl, and high above my head
Higher than I can leap (I try and try) she holds the lovely thing
I mean to taste one day when there is time.
And then I understand again, that she has called me what I am.”
“Pah! Time is infinite. Bolt your treats! Myself, I find time there whenever I wake up.
Besides, you’ve never seen her eat those things.”
“Mr. Boots, I won’t come in. You’ve knocked three pots from the windowsill, and broken two.
I smell the dying tortured stems.
You’ve clawed them, and they must have been our…fellows
For I’ve heard her praise them when they bloom.”
“Nameless cairn, I’ve done all for your pleasure.
Dig in the soil
and find a treasure.”
Dog of Sorrows
I Will Inform You
The Goldfish Takes a Watery View
(2019, Stephanie Foster)