The Dog

The Dog

by: Andrew Bartee

A man returns from a simple trip

A brand new friend he finds

A little creature

Small and frail

And simple by design

A dog he finds and he brings home

To walk his simple house

And soon he finds                                             

His simple house

The dog matches throughout

A dog never thinks too long at all

He never stops and waits

Not sit and ponder

Not dream or wonder

Its only acts he takes

Out in the sunny, grassy yard

He does not care at all

He turns around

He sniffs the ground

He chases his red ball

A dog out in the sunny yard

Looks like a small poltroon

A muddy morass

Some noisome trash

Are things he’ll play with soon

Call him over, and give commands

He’ll happily try to do

He’ll sit and speak

And spin and leap

But only for some food

For without food, all he will do

Is run and caterwaul

Friends may laugh

And talk and bash

But the dog won’t fear or bawl

And through all his friend’s raillery

The man loves the dog still

The man can see

That all he can be

Is a dog, and thats all he will

Nobody ever questions a dog

And says “that dog is fake”

They don’t look at him

And simply grin

And say “He’s not really that way”

For a dog never puts on a fake persona

And act like someone he’s not

No fancy dress

No “Sunday’s Best”

Just dog, and he likes it a lot.

And people love dogs anyway

Though not all of them do

Their loving face

And simple ways

make their life a simple truth:

If dogs were more like people, what a strange world this would be

If people were more like dogs, how honest and true they’d be.