January Does End

Pet Guilt Trip

a magical place:
the only way to describe 
these teenage smiles

even pup loves it 
cycling past wildlife
below the Smokies

where can you see bears
and collect salamanders 
under the same sun?

this mountain-framed pic
taken on the same soil
twenty-three years past

we’re fatter, older
while the mountains are hotter;
such is life—sad changes

yet look at our girls
fearlessly taking this on
one moon-wing a time

a magical place:
the only way to describe 
these teenage smiles

even pup loves it 
cycling past wildlife
below the Smokies

where can you see bears
and collect salamanders 
under the same sun?

this mountain-framed pic
taken on the same soil
twenty-three years past

we’re fatter, older
while the mountains are hotter;
such is life—sad changes

yet look at our girls
fearlessly taking this on
one moon-wing a time

Kentucky has coal
but also cool rainforests 
(midsummer cooldowns)

enough rain will fall
in two days to flood a creek
drunk by my puppy

water is the life
that sustains these roadside farms
its blood for our blood

my newly groomed pup
with his new shovel squeak toy
my baby’s so cute

group home or our home? 
uncooked soup or not eating?
there's only one choice.

Pet life, the best life
nothing but a restful day
Repeated each day