PO-EMotion #8- Joy

April is National Poetry Month. Every year, my dear friend (and poet Extraordinaire), Mary Lee Hahn chooses a theme, and writes a poem each day. Mary Lee blogs and posts her poems at two different places- YEAR OF READING and a fabulous new poetry blog POETREPOSITORY.

This year, Mary Lee has chosen the theme, "PO-EMotions," and is writing about a different emotion each day. She promises, "This year, I will write a poem a day that either evokes an emotion, or uses an emotion word in the title or body of the poem." Her list of emotions is here. I'm joining her, at least some days.

Today's emotion is joy.


"Joy"

Even before
I remove key from lock
I hear her throwing herself
against the front door
She jumps in circles,
greeting me with much tail wagging.
Occasionally, she forgets her manners
and her paws end up on my shoulders
Pink tongue swipes my face.
"You are home! You are home!
I am so glad to see you!"

And then I say,
"Are you hungry?"
She races to the kitchen.
Slides into her food dish
Sending it spinning
in a noisy cymbal cacophony
against the floor and wall
More tail wagging.
An impatient bark
if her two-footed waitress
moves too slowly.

"Ready for a walk?"
Head pops up.
Ears go to full alert.
More tail wagging.
More barking.
"Hurry. Let's go.
Put on your shoes.
Where's the leash?
I love walks. Quick.
Hurry. Open the door.
Let's go. Let's go.
It smells so good out here."

Two miles done.
I take my seat on couch
Computer propped on knees
ready for an evening's work
She leaps up
presses her body
against my left hip
rests her chin on my forearm
and sighs contentedly.

It takes so little
to make her joy complete.

(C) Carol Wilcox, 2015