heat into my hands,
befuddled old dog
pushing against my arm
with its beseeching nose
and eyes, till I succumb,
drift downslope
into somnolence, tucked
side by side
against the rumbles
of this faithful comfort,
lapse into slumber
and its releasing
chuckles at the piercings
of the day—
left behind—
in the dark.
Ottawa poet Susan McMaster has published some 40 poetry books, anthologies, and wordmusic recordings with First Draft, SugarBeat, Geode Music & Poetry, and Solstice. She is the founding editor of Branching Out, the first national feminist/arts magazine, and a former president of the League of Canadian Poets.
