Poetry Magazine
Taking the Thought for the Dog
I plan to be the world authority on peafowl. Believe I'll be offered a chair someday at the chicken college.
—Flannery O'Connor
Certainly are nice
to want to give me that dog.
I raise peacocks—
you can't keep dogs
and them on the same place.
People come here
have to leave the dog in the car else the peachickens take to the trees
with nervous prostrations.
I have twenty-seven. Place
sounds like a jungle
at night. They yell
and scream at the least
atmospheric disturbance
or mechanical noise.
Sitting on the back steps, I spend
days studying how
they could decorate
the lawn to advantage. They prefer
to sit on the tractors,
the top of the chicken
house or garbage can lid. I adjust
to their taste, which
is anti-dog. Thanks
but I'll take the thought for
the dog. Appreciate
you wanting to give it.
Come visit. Nothing to do here
but sit, walk,
collect red bug bites,
show you a peacock before
his tail gets ratty.
Source: Poetry (August 1998).
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This poem originally appeared in the August 1998 issue of Poetry magazine
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Poem Categorization
SUBJECT Friends & Enemies, Home Life, Relationships, Pets, Arts & Sciences, Humor & Satire
Poetic Terms Free Verse, Epistle
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