digging – WHARVED

Our Friend Fido

Something is amiss in this situation,
like a dog without a bone
or a dog who just buried one
and forgot where it even went.

Now our friend Fido
will go around
digging up holes
in all the neighbors’ yards
without any prize
at the end of his grimy toenails.

He’ll still be satisfied
from the act of digging anyway,
but at what cost?

Bedlam is what they call
the chicken wing syndrome

that’s been going around
these parts these days
with these kids
and these chicken bones

in the back yards
of their collective courtyards,

sold into poverty by dogs
who simply refused
not to dig up holes
where the gardenias
should have been growing.