A Dream

T and her dog
Finn
were at my house
but
Finn wasn't Finn,
he was a big, brown
dummy of a dog and
he had gotten into a cache of
take-away sweet and sour sauce
and he was golden orange from
top to
tail.

T was busy so
I got Finn in the shower and
hosed him off until
he was as good as
new.

He smiled at me for a moment
then ran off to pursue glory
in the heat of
his own dog day
in
summer.

I tried to tell T that
the dog was clean but
she wouldn't respond to any of
my calls or
messages.

I eventually found out,
through the vine,
that it was because there was
someone
new.

I wrote her that I'd found out about it
but when she came over,
tail tucked in,
I wasn't upset.

I told her
that I know life is short
and that she should be with someone
who makes her
happy
even if
it wasn't
me.

I said not to worry,
I would take care of Finn until
things
settled
down.

She smiled at me for a moment
then walked out the door
to finish a life story of which I
would never
know the
ending.

I stood for awhile in the ensuing silence.

The sun came through the blinds as
the dusty afternoon cast fences
over the carpeted
floor.

I grabbed Finn's leash and
set off to find
him.



When I woke it was 7:30,

I got cleaned up
and left
for
work.