I miss my dog

This Casey look-alike caught my eye in town today. 

Since he died, just before Christmas, I have been dogless for the first time in 14 years but I see no way of keeping one now. A puppy would require so much attention that I would not be able to do the things I do, and an older dog I could not trust to be safe. Both Casey and I were bitten by rescue dogs and another I know of killed the family cat.

This is the second Jack Russell that has touched my heart within the week, The other was a white and tan bitch who put her head out of a car window to greet me.

You're like a little wild thing
that was never sent to school.
Sit, I say and you jump up.
Come, I say, and you go galloping down the sand
to the nearest dead fish
with which you perfume your sweet neck.
It is summer.
How many summers does a little dog have?


From Dog Songs by Mary Oliver, a present from  Kendall and Sue last year,