the dogs and I walk square streets - four rights and we’re back home   a trip to the grocery store is like a business trip, the doctor’s office, a reluctant outing eating out, an oh boy! adventure   my universe ends at the town’s border friends live nearby or internet close my web of connections, now the net that holds me   from a large, colorful painting, my life has withered to a black dot not black widow but garden spider no longer hungry for food   but little joys wrappe

on a day I was walking slightly derailed, Barry and his dog Shadow stopped   stopped to talk and lick, laugh and lick some more and without knowing it set me back on track   sometimes a cup of coffee my favorite buttered bagel with a grapefruit chaser won’t get me moving   sometimes I need a hand to realign my wheels kickstart the steam in the engine a push to get to my first stop   like Barry and Shadow, I too have people waiting for me to pick them up   and send them on the

as sure as I know I’ll finally stop driving at night and a certain tooth will eventually cause me money and grief and my ability to run isn’t long for this world,   my string of dry days, reaching farther and farther, over and into the pond to remove algae and debris, will come to an end   the look on my face when it happens should be worth some kind of admission, maybe a premium charge for a front row seat   but that would need promotion, which might tip me off, and I’d be a