April is Poetry #21

I wrote about the dog park earlier.  One of the nicest things is how well the dogs get along, even with my grumpy pet, a miniature Australian shepherd.  Naturally territorial and excessively protective, she makes me crazy at home. But at the dog park? She's Miss Social.  She sniffs and greets and meets and generally schmoozes like she's at some fancy fund-raiser.

 But nothing gives her more happiness than an escapee. Once, a small dog kept running off from its owner, and my dog kept zipping after it, grinning with glee when she blockaded his mad dashes for the grass on the far side.  The other day, she had wild romp with a rescue dog from Mexico, which she was sure was making a break for his homeland, thousands of miles away.


blue-eyed cattle dog
sunlight and torn rubber ball
my dog shepherds all

---Sara Lewis Holmes


Here's a short video of her, herding a remote-control helicopter: