Poem 11/31-Dog Days "Good For the Soul"

"Good for the Soul"

used to be
that we would go three or four miles, easy
pretty much every day
one day we ran into a neighbor on her bike
"how'd you get all the way down here?" she questioned.
"You didn't," long pause,
"walk?"

Actually, we did.
Three or four miles every night.
sometimes more on weekends.
Star needed the exercise.
She didn't care about the temperature.
I hateD the cold, but it was ok with her.
Summers, she loved frolicking in people's sprinklers.

We still walk.
Every night, after dinner, the onslaught begins.
First the pleading eyes, then the low whine,
followed by the insistent bark.
We head south, always south,
but when we get to the corner
Star has a decision to make.

Will we continue another block,
and turn right at the next corner?
They always put out yummy day old bread
in front of the Cherry Tomato.

If we head east
we can check out the candy
and doughnut wrappers-
at the middle school.
Once in a while, we even find a whole sack lunch.

Or maybe we should head west,
there are lots of nice dogs to visit
and we love to chat with
 our four-legged neighbors.

Decision made, we go.
The walks are shorter now.
Usually only a mile or so.
And I have to be more tolerant
of Star's tendency to check out detritus
because if I pull too hard on the leash
her back legs give out
and she falls and
sometimes she can't get back up.

But still we go.
Everyone knows
A walk is good for the soul.

(C) Carol Wilcox, 2019