Poem for April 10 - Teamwork

TEAMWORK

CAST:
1 Duck. Drake. Aggressive Moscovy.
Too stringy and tough for stew.
1 Hunting Hound. Old and Friendly.
Companion. Sent Sniffer. Retriever.

PLOT:
Oscar, the Duck patrols the perimeter.
Attacks intruders relentlessly. Bites their ankles.
Beats them back with his flapping wings.

Nellie the Dog watches.
Bays or barks out the alarm
to alert Grandpa.

Later they rest, still on lookout
in the warm afternoon sun.
Near, but not too near.


NOtE: the photo is a family picture of the actual Oscar and Nellie who belonged to my Grandfather Walker. My mother recalls being afraid to get out of the car and having to run for the house when Oscar was on patrol. Not sure if this is a poem or just sort of flash nonfiction.... Not sure I care which either....

Cubist-like, flattened? Man with a dog, bone, & cigarette

I was shooting for flatness, lines with no heft, or volume, depiction in two dimensions without the illusion of mass, when I drew this little shot - quite a few years ago. A reclining man is  smoking a cigarette, while making a dog jump up for a bone.  It seems like a summertime drawing, maybe after a picnic. I really like the feel of the chair but that may be because it is the only thing with any discernible three dimensional form.  I had been looking at a lot of Picasso but certainly this is not quite that either. The actual drawing has a crease down the middle. You can still see it a bit.

NaPoWriMo #6 -- Today's menu

Today's Menu

Dog looking
Dog looking at me
Dog poised to do a happy doggie dance.

Me looking
Me looking at the mirror
at the back of dog's head
poised to take a picture.

The looker and the look-ee
both expectant, assessing
the possibilities, full of energy.
Dog wanting something,

an adventure of walking
sniffing, chasing, a car ride.
Me wanting a photo, showing
a doorway, a place of entry

for reflection, for life and its shadow
where the right and the left  are joined
in a lake of glass: this moment
whose surface shows

all the actual places
we could go from here.
Woof.

-- Mar Walker

My dog, pictured above, is named Oggi which means Today.The prompt was to write a poem from a picture. I am so very glad for this prompt. I have always liked this photo and was never sure why. I thought it held something unusual but I wasn't sure just what until now.

Dog and Cat Kiss: Interpretations differ - what's your take?

Many folks look at this photo and see a pretty little dog and cat kissing. What we see depends a lot on what we expect. I live with these two characters and what I see are two rivals inspecting the competition.  My pets are companionable but not affectionate with each other, and are often jealous of, or at least very interested in the attention or tidbitts the other gets. In this photo, I think they are checking each others cheeks and breath to see if one has eaten anything the other has missed, checking each others physical status and mood. This sweet little kitty often bites the dogs ears, lips or toes to drive her out of a spot of sun that the cat wants for herself.  The dog, who is aware that direct aggression on the cat is not an option within this pack, for her part will secretly steal the cat's food whenever she has the opportunity.

We often find it necessary to anthropomorphize or romanticize animals, especially when describing them to children, but they have their own agenda and motivations which differ greatly from our own.  This is the cause of a lot of injury.  A child assumes this is their beautiful stuffed toy to hug and drag about by an ear or a limb.  The cat, dog, rabbit, hamster responds with teeth to this attack, ends up euthanized, not beause they were evil or dangerous -- but because their owners were irresponsibly ignorant of their needs and nature.  When any dog is left alone with a small child and injury results it is most usually the fault of the supervising human being. If you own a gun and your toddler shoots someone with it, you are negligent and you get a fine. If you own a dog, and someone is injured, you might pay damages, but in the final tally its the poor dog that pays the price for your lack of objective knowledge about nature.

-- Mar Walker

Phooey on politics!

There are some things in the world that require a direct address not a remote vote.  The polite request of  dog who wants something is one of them. Shown here is Oggi who's is now around 11 years old.  Her muzzle wasn't so white when I got her from Danbury Pound.

Below is her sort of friend, the cat Miet, also adopted from an unknown past......  When they want something they sit one on either side of me and stare at me intently.  Maybe we could go to Washington and stare at congress until they get the idea!!! haha! Oh well, we'd all be staring for different reasons....

The dog's lumps, the world's bumps

The dog has a growth on the back of her paw. I noticed this a few weeks ago when I trimmed her toe nails. This week she started licking it, and limping just slightly. So this morning, off we go to the vets.

Dogs love a car ride. And getting out at the vets is Okay too -- so many interesting smells in the yard! But from a dog's eye view, the exam room is ominous. The PEOPLE are great, but that aluminum table is for cats. Poor dog gets tricked into standing on it and suddenly something emits a growl-like hum and the table starts to shudder and Lo! The dog Ascendeth! Acsendeth to the vet, that is. And the table is slippery too, like life, a little dance, a little prance and a leg can hang precariously over the side. Then as blood gets drawn, poor dog's behind begins to slip out from under her and soon she is laying down on this cold aluminum precipice. No stairs, no place to land, too slippery even to try. I imagine Oggi leaping. Imagine clouds instead of tiles. Wonder if I too can fly, then they hand me an estimated bill. The landing is a shock!

finding my way

I heard today that when wind chimes shimmer their bright bells on the wind, that the sound chases out the old stagnant fears.  Well, I have no idea but one left untried. It's not so much happiness I seek, as that is in the moments. It is sustaining income without the loss of sanity as a trade-off. I feel like this old pup - constrained by a panel of glass I am only dimly aware of, and looking sadly into the distance.

Three dogs on a bench

Moved from the Metaphoratorium Gallery

Sorry I haven't been posting. A relative in the house has a broken arm and I am tending them as best I can, while trying to work at home. Also, I as I can find splinters of time, I have been working on an e-zine. The first issue is not up yet but will be up online in April.

This is a purely digital drawing, no physical component. I have dog, she is not allowed on benches. There are two chairs where she is allowed to sit. The couch is off limits.