Devil Dog, Angel Pup
A Poem Celebrating Dogginess
By Vijaya Sundaram
February 28, 2014
Rolling black eyes, teeth snapping with a click,
Devil Dog entices with a pink-tongued lick.
Angel Pup, mop-top, furry-snug thing
You lure me when you start to sing.
It’s all music when you whistle high and sweet
I respond to your signal, and the clicking of your feet.
When you’re comfortably fed, your snout, warm and black,
So wet in my hand, says there’s nothing that I lack.
You sigh that sigh of dog-in-its-place
The Universe shifts in a deep, dark space.
You snuggle, little ragamuffin warm and bright,
Claiming me as your own birthright.
Your trust in us, so simple and true
A human and her dog, that’s me and you.
And your sigh, which says that all is well
Fills this room with a flop-eared spell.
Time stands still, then begins once more,
The evening coalesces near the door.
And sudden, the humming fridge ceases to hum
And sudden, another sound starts to thrum.
A truck rumbles by, the highways sing
While soft falls the snow, and the quiet it brings.
The Great Outside where the unknown resides
Is blotted out now – and shunted aside.
But here, now, within, see – dog on my knee
This is peace, true peace, and it rests with me.
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