A golden retriever slips into the scene

carrying a lime green tennis ball

in his mouth. He trots the beach, tail waving,

waiting for someone to wrestle the ball

 

away from him. He wants to run.

He wants to swim out into deep water

to where the ducks float, to make them rise up

in a loud-voiced thrashing of wings.

 

He wants to shake out his heavy coat and hear

the squealing of children. The sun makes him

crazy with happiness. The same god

that paints peacock feathers and lets

 

a goldfinch ride a single swaying stem

shapes his heart. A man throws a ball

out into the water; the dog goes after it,

not stopping to wonder if he can swim.

 

This poem first appear in Common Ground Review.

Used here with the author’s permission.