Praise be to Dog

Praise be to dog
Who eschews what she chews—
            a new shoe
            an old book
            an old shoe
            a new book
            the previously distant remote.
(Oh no, the reader said, not the remote!)

Okay, we’ll leave out the example of the remote,
for the consequences of the dog’s gnawing on this item
are too dire to consider.

So praise be to dog
            who pees on the carpet
            chases the UPS truck
            roots through garbage
            counter surfs
and continually commits sins pardonable
and unpardonable
at a speed so fast
that you’ll never catch her in the act.

Praise be to dog
           who at the day’s end
           lies at your feet
           dreaming about deeds done
           and yet to be done.
This, a creature that when it’s asleep
Is not a good dog, but rather, a very good dog.

Next: 23. 1/23/14: Of Men and Machinery