THE DAY THE BULLDOG SAW THE KINGFISHER

Changed,
Puzzled
Him:
A blue possibility
Beyond the dog's life,
Skimming to a charmed destiny
The dog could not imagine.

This light led where dogs can't go:
A realm of the river's shine and flicker,
Surfaces, depths, cool and nourishing.
His tongue told him so.

He could not voice the word freedom,
Being but a dog,
Yet glimpsed it
Speeding blue
On the water
In the air that day.

He did what dogs do:
Scratched,
Snuffled,
Went on with his doggy life,
Cocked his leg against a tree.