sun pitching into the lake
its light stringing cobwebs
among the pines when we arrive,
leash coiled in hand.
my dog’s world, typically confined to a linden tree and
raised garden within a parched, patchwork lawn,
now unfolds like roses bursting their velvet seams.
there is still in his old body
a gluttonous desire for adventure—
that longing, that curiosity
that lords over him,
that resides mostly in his nose;
his nose which tempts him down
toward the amber soaked shore—
releasing a sudden thunder of mallards’ wings
and raucous honking of perturbed ducks
startled by my ecstatic lab,
startling the lab back to me for reassurances
I offer, basking in the familiarity of pats,
tail warming to a steady wag again,
now plodding with renewed confidence underfoot.
paws plummeting down his dirt-path highway,
with one defiant glance his brown eyes
beckon you to join him:
mouth gaping, tongue fluttering
gorging on the fearsome, full pleasures
of this earth.
