PAD Day 3: Old Dog Dreams

Today's dual prompts from Poetic Asides and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a poem that mentions an animal, and (2) write a poem that tells a story over a period of time. This poem is inspired by a dog that we have been watching for a sick friend, and also by the wonderful dog poems of Mark Doty.

Old Dog Dreams

When she was younger, she loved to run

after squirrels, as fast as her terrier legs

could carry her, and she'd bark with urgency

till they scurried up out of reach.

She never actually caught one, but she seemed

to enjoy the sport of it. Now she is fourteen,

and she can barely hobble up two steps,

let alone tear across a park or yard.

Her curly fur has grayed, and much of it

has fallen off her now-pointy muzzle.

Her once-bushy tail resembles a frayed flag,

but they both go into service on our walks.

She limps along the pavement, veering off

along the way, tracing a trail with her nose

right to the base of a tree or phone pole,

her tail pointed at attention, her left paw

raised, and then she snuffs in frustration,

as this is only a taunting memory of squirrels.

Back home, she sometimes ruffs in her sleep,

her legs twitching, as she chases fat squirrels

in her dreams, and in her very last dream,

I hope she will catch one.