A Dog’s Life - Dec. 27, 2022

sometimes when the TV is on

Oliver slips out to the backyard

settles into his favorite

security guard chair

pricks his ears

to tricks of the wind

the shuffles in leaf litter

tiny scratches and tinier twitches

looks for shadows

moving through shadow

the pencil lights

of a pair of eyes

wriggles his nose

for whiffs of rat or

possum or raccoon

any trespassers of the night

it’s when he holds a gaze

on the shimmering dots

in that black sea of sky

I start to wonder

if dogs live a deeper life

than the one that

plays for us