My master’s voice

A new chewy toy

Pleasant days full of joy

Brushed white coat

Brisk walks along quiet by lanes.

My favourite spot near the bin

A quick pee, more run, then back.

Come Sundays

Grandpa took me to the ground

His old police life.

“Waltz! jump! roll! “

And a feast! juicy bones!

One more day; the maid has not shown up

I am hungry, my kennel smelly.

No one calls aloud “Waltz!”

Master, your newspaper

Shouldn’t I fetch?

A man walked in like a cat

Opened my kennel with a shout

Threw stones at me, it hurt

I wondered why, what for?

My calls for my master

His voice unheard.

With fear I walked off

No one called me back.

Silent was my house

Nowhere was grandpa

I walked, ran, never back.

I stood over the bridge

And looked down

The other dog was shaggy, mangy

It had no bone in its mouth.

One day I will hear my master’s voice

He would call out loud “Waltz”!

I will leap into his arms.