March 27, 2007

My puppy raiser Marianne and I were driving home on Saturday, me dozing in the back seat, she listening to the radio, when I heard a lady reading poetry on "Prairie Home Companion." Here's something most humans don't know: Dogs are very good poets.

You think we're dreaming about rabbits and squeaky toys, and yeah, some of the time we are, but more often we're working on a tricky quatrain or trying to think of a word that rhymes with leash.

And different breeds specialize in different forms. Border Collies create free verse with no punctuation (they love e.e. cummings), Bull Terriers enjoy nonsense rhymes, Akitas write Haiku, Borzois compose sonnets, and French Bulldogs specialize in Terse Verse. Poodles, for all their airs and graces, love limericks, particularly the ones beginng "There once was a dog from Nantucket..."

I met a French Bulldog on Saturday who recited this Terse Verse she'd composed that afternoon:

Grinning Wife, Holding Adorable Puppy, Explaining to Exasperated Husband Why She Brought Home Yet Another Dog:

Pug Mug.

We had a good laugh over that one!

Here's the one I composed during my post-dinner nap:

The Towel By the Back Door by Hudson

Rain

Dank earthy smells

Soggy grass

Glorious mud

Joyous gallop

Exquisitely wet feet

But then

"Hudson, here!"

She takes the dry green towel

And wipes all traces of Spring

From my feet.

I look longingly out the door

Past the muddy green towel

That smells like my paws.

Chow for Now!

Hudson

Questions or comments? Contact Hudson at call7forhelp@thedenverchannel.com

www.cci.org