Dog Down

 DOG DOWN

Antony walked Prince every day,

Sometimes twice or thrice a day,

Looking for a tree.

Prince needed to smell the roses,

Smell the fire hydrants,

Smell a bush and a tree,

To see

Who had been there to pee,

As if to say,

"This is my tree,

So keep away."

            **********

Prince would then pee

On that tree

To say,

"No, can't you see,

This is my tree."

            **********

But Prince was a lonesome pooch,

And Antony a lonesome man,

So one fine day

Antony visited the local pound,

And there he found

Princess,

Feisty, fluffy, frolicsome, and fun,

A fit companion

For a lonely pooch

And a lonely man.

            **********

And then the trio went around,

Antony, Prince, and Princess,

Rescued from the local pound,

And now part of the three,

Out on proud parade,

Perambulating around

The park and grounds,

Looking for a tree.

            **********

But yesterday

There was only Antony

And Prince

Parading down the way.

"But where is Princess?"

I asked,

For always there were the three.

            **********

Antony looked away.

"I had to put her down," he said.

"She wouldn't stop peeing.

I tried to train her, I truly tried.

But she peed in the kitchen,

She peed in the living room,

She peed in the bedroom,

She peed on my wife's armoire,

She peed on the rug.

We had to throw it out.

We bought another rug.

And she peed on that rug."

            **********

"That's enough," my wife said,

"I won't buy another rug.

Princess has to go,

Before she pees again."

            **********

"I tried to find her a home.

I tried my family,

I tried my friends,

I tried strangers on the street,

I tried people in the park,

Out walking their dogs.

I even tried the pound

Where I'd found her.

But no one wanted Princess,

Especially my wife.

Princess had to go, she said.

So I had to put her down."

            **********

He turned to me.

His cheeks were wet.

"I tried, " repeated.

"I asked everyone I met,

Everyone I knew.

I didn't know what else to do.

So I had to put her down.

But I tried, I truly tried,

I truly, truly, tried."

            **********

I nodded.

"You tried," I said,

Giving him my absolution.

            **********

"Thank you," he said.

"You know I tried."

Then they walked away,

Antony and Prince,

A lonely pooch

And a lonely man,

Looking for a tree.