Dog Days - Aug 19 2023

 

Dog Days

Aug 19 2023

In the dog days of summer

the new puppy

is asleep in my arms.

I never believed

in love at first sight,

but it seems we both have fallen.

She is growing in real time,

shooting up

like asparagus

and eating to keep pace.

So brief

this interregnum of infancy;

when she has just begun

to learn about the world,

yet can already outrun me

and barks like a gun dog

who has treed her prey.

The old dog, however

is in her 15th year

and is simply annoyed.

A contrast

which gives me pause;

how old I will be

15 years from now,

and how my geriatric dog

will be long gone,

while the brand new pup, if she's makes it as far

will be as crotchety and lame

as her aged counterpart.

Far too short a life,

running its course as I watch.

And a disconcerting preview

of my future, as well;

except sped up and compressed.

But now

in the dog days of August

in a sultry dusk

as the sun begins to set,

a puppy just born

and we two old dogs

sprawled out on the deck.