Poetrie: Nelson, My Dog

About

by Gary Soto

Like the cat he scratches the flea camping in fur.

Unlike the cat he delights in water up to his ears.

He frolics. He catches a crooked stick--

On his back he naps with legs straight up in the air.

Nelson shudders awake. He responds to love

From head to tail. In happiness

His front legs march in place

And his back legs spark when they push off.

On a leash he knows his geography.

For your sake he looks both ways before crossing,

He sniffs at the sight of a poodle trimmed like a hedge,

And he trots the street with you second in command.

In the park, he ponders a squirrel attached to a tree

And he shovels a paper cup on his nose.

He sweeps after himself with his tail,

And there is no hand that doesn't deserve a lick.

Note this now, my friends:

Nelson can account the heritage of heroic dogs:

One, canines lead the blind,

Two, they enter fire to rescue the child and the child's toy,

Three, they swim for the drowning,

Four, they spring at the thief,

Five, they paddle ponds for the ball that got away,

Six, for the elderly they walk side by side to the very end,

Seven, they search for bones but stop when called,

Eight, they bring mud to all parties,

Nine, they poke among the ruins of a burnt house,

Ten, they forgive what you dish out on a plate.

Nelson is a companion, this much we know,

And if he were a movie star, he would do his own stunts--

O, how he would fly, climb the pant legs of a scoundrel

And stand tall rafting on white-water rivers!

He has befriended the kingdom of animals:

He once ran with wolves but admittedly not very far,

He stepped two paces into a cave and peeked at the bear,

He sheltered a kitten,

He righted the turtle pedaling its stumps on its back,

Under the wheeling stars he caravanned with the mule,

He steered sheep over a hill,

He wisely let the skunk pass,

He growled at the long-bearded miser,

He joined ducks quacking with laughter,

Once he leaped at a pheasant but later whined from guilt.

Nelson's black nose is a compass in the wilds.

He knows nature. He has spied spires of summer smoke,

He circled cold campfires,

He howled at a gopher and scratched at the moon,

He doctored his wounds with his tongue,

He has pawed a star of blood left in snow.

He regards the fireplace, the embers like blinking cats,

This too we know about Nelson.

True, he is sometimes tied to parking meters

And sometimes wears the cone of shame from the vet's office.

But again, he is happiness.

He presents his belly for a friendly scratch.

If you call him, he will drop his tennis ball,

Look up, and come running,

This muddy friend for life. When you bring your nose

To his nose for something like a kiss,

You can find yourself in his eyes.