Canine Meeting

I met a dog the other day

He stood before me in my way

He did not bark or howl or whine

And not a hackle on his spine

Was raised, as he looked full at me

And gruffly asked me ‘are you free’?

I looked him in his tired, sad eyes

This haggard hound, with some surprise;

Was I imagining he spoke?

Twas not a growl or snarl or croak

I had translated into speech.

No, he had loaded my mind’s breach

With canine cartridge so well fit,

Pulled the trigger, fired and hit

The very bull’s-eye of my heart,

Such I could not doubt we were a part

Of some lost, unifying tongue

That all spoke when the world was young.

I felt ashamed, I dropped my gaze,

No answer could I give, or raise

My eyes, and look him in the face –

So turned, and stumbled from that place.