National Poetry Month 2022- Foundlings and Wonderments- Poem #19- "Friends"

 Trying to find a little wonder every day. Here was today's. Just a story poem. Nothing structured or fancy or profound.

"Friends"

Rooney, 

featured guest

in the preK pet unit,

enjoys this gig

especially when he discovers 

a quarter-sized splot of yogurt

conveniently located on the rug 

exactly where he is supposed to lay. 

Teacher’s carefully orchestrated circle

immediately collapses

and Sweet Roo finds himself

engulfed 

in a sea of four-year-olds.

Ever the benevolent gent,

he accepts treats 

from twelve tentative hands,

rests his front paw

gently on Fi’s foot

and does not protest 

when Mateo lays his head 

atop of Rooney’s

for an eternity.

His smile is broadest, though,

when Christobel,

an avowed dog hater

who insisted two weeks ago

that I close the door

before she walked by my office

coos as she dispenses treats 

from a plastic spoon.

(C) Carol Wilcox, 2022