Dogs Wearing Pants

Calla

—Poems by J. D. DeHart, Chattanooga, TN

—Photos by Stacey Jaclyn Morgan, Fair Oaks, CA

DOG IS WEARING PANTS

O my God, the dog
is wearing pants again.

I’m sorry, I know this
is off-putting.
We’ve even talked to him
about this.

Now he’s sitting spinning
grinning, biting at his tail
which has an unspoken
blemish.

He will speak to you
in grunts, if you listen.
Maybe even explain
why he has dressed so.

 Alcea rosea

JOUST

Two splintered halves,
a race, two gallops,
a sword, the clatter of
armor that does not exist,
and the two selves
pummeled and thrown
off-course, spiraling to
the earth from which they
both emerged.

 Papaver somniferum

CATSCRATCH MUSIC

We hear at the bluegrass
festival the whining of a culture,
slowly shifting into the hills.
In their songs, we hear
the rumbling truck bouncing
on back roads.
We hear the coffee can full
of worms for fishing.
We hear the sickness of Addie,
the family building her grave.

 Russian Okra
 

ZEUS THE ACTION HERO

They found him on a far-reaching
casting call. There had been a time
when he would pretend to be a swan.
Pretending to be Stallone sounded
cooler. Lights, camera, action,
and it was all thunder and bolts,
fastidiously signing autographs when
the director yelled cut.

 Tomatillo Sunbathing on Wood

LAWN CHAIR LYRIC

It has rained all day
again and the neighbors
are getting restless

Last year, they aimed
fireworks at the other
houses

They arrive in caravans,
nomads in their own homes,
coming in and going out
at strange hours

Their headlights flash
across my wall when I
cannot find sleep

Now, there is fresh cut grass
being washed down the road

and they are nowhere to see.

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Our thanks to J. D. DeHart for today’s fine poems, as well as Stacey Morgan for her beautiful photography!  These poems have appeared previously on either Poet Community or Poems and Poetry blog.

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Today’s LittleNip:

Writing poetry is a state of free float.

—Margaret Atwood

____________________

—Medusa

 Celebrate poetry today by heading up to Placerville 

for the monthly Poetry Off-the-Shelves read-around 
from 5-7pm, then over to Davis to hear Wendy Barker and
Kevin Clark read from their books at the Avid Reader, 
7:30pm. Scroll down to the blue box 
(under the green box at the right) for details.

Photos in this column can be enlarged by clicking on them once,
then click on the X in the top right corner to come back
to Medusa.