Monday 18 October 2010

Poem for the Poetry Bus

NanU is driving this week and asked us to change writing location.
The others are here:
http://sciencegirltraveler.blogspot.com/2010/10/poetry-bus-sarret-ici.html

I wrote this one in Rochdale. It's the only poem I've ever written in Rochdale. It's the only poem I've written in the whole of Lancashire.

Thanks

Jack has accepted me as part of his pack.
He smells of carpet offcuts left on the midden.

He greets me with a no nonsense sniff of the crotch
and leans in close, though the kitchen chair is only made for one.

Outside, we are never more than ten yards from a tennis ball,
some split like a dead rat, some with vestiges of yellow.

His eyes glisten with a passion; all he wants,
all he seems to live for, is this moment.

I pick up a ball. He is instantly alert,
intent on my hand, the slightest movement and he’s off.

I thwack it as far as I’m able, down the far field;
he catches, brings it back, I throw, he fetches, brings it back

I overarm, he retrieves, brings it back,
I hurl, he loses it, finds it, brings it back.

His face, his grubby beard, his black nose
his eyes, his big dark eyes. This is what thanks looks like.

9 comments:

MuseSwings said...

I love this! Wonderful expression of what dogs are really all about. I have two - one is a fetcher and would spend all day catching the ball if she could. The reason dogs live for the moment is they cant tell time...however mine often shows evidence to the contrary.

Peter Goulding said...

I hope to goodness that's an animal the poem is about and not some strange Lancastrian!

Totalfeckineejit said...

You gotta love dogs n'est ce pas? Well caught!

Rachel Fox said...

Though this is a very good dog poem I half wanted a punchline (visual?) about it being about a guy instead...
x

The Bug said...

I love this! If only all our relationships were this simple.

Emerging Writer said...

Let it be known, I am not a dog person. I am a cat person. But somehow, cats are difficult to poeticise.
Jack is the black and white dog in the photo. He's sweet but thick and drools. Like some Lancastrians I dated.

Karen said...

I felt like I'm right there with you. That's good poetry.

Dr. Jeanne Iris said...

I just love dogs! One Christmas, I bought my golden retriever a very chic, leopard skin ball. She, knowing its impeccable style, chose to bury it instantly. Two years later, she dug up that ball and rolled it to my feet, so I would toss it for her to retrieve.
I love this poem!

M. Reka said...

That's really good poetry!
Short Poems