dogs of any kind
but most especially dogs in trouble
who can't seem to get things
right who end up
in the worst kinds of places with no way out,
those kindsa poems,
i don't know why but they comfort me
these embittered
snowdog lost-their-way kindsa poems, bleak empty wounded
poems, nor can i say why
i reach out to them every time
or why it is
i know the ending before the end
of the first line
something about lying near
the warm bricks
of the hearth next to his master's boots
while the woman rocks
her puppy and sings if that diamond
ring
don't shine
� 2004 by James Lineberger
