One of the featured poets is Mark Doty. I've selected a short poem from Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems [811.54 DOT], which, if you're a dog lover, I'm positive you'll enjoy!
Golden Retrievals
Fetch? Balls and sticks capture my attention
seconds at a time. Catch? I don’t think so.
Bunny, tumbling leaf, a squirrel who’s--oh
joy--actually scared. Sniff the wind, then
I’m off again: muck, pond, ditch, residue
of any thrillingly dead thing. And you?
Either you’re sunk in the past, half our walk,
thinking of what you never can bring back,
or else you’re off in some fog concerning
--tomorrow, is that what you call it? My work:
to unsnare time’s warp (and woof!), retrieving,
my haze-headed friend, you. This shining bark,
a Zen master’s bronzy gong, calls you here,
entirely, now: bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow.
What did I tell you? Did he capture a dog or what? I love it!
Visit Buffy's Blog for this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up and I hope to see you among the poetry lovers in Salem!
Illustration courtesy NY Public Library Digital Collections.