Sleeping with the Dogs

The harvester comes in many disguises.
You may recognise him in the tithe collector's uniform,
and turn him away; he will gain access
posing as the water meter man.

A soldier, young lad from southern Uzbekistan,
was stationed on guard duty at the eastern frontier.

Winter is cruel in the high mountains.
He was cold, lonely, and miserably homesick.
 
The medical report states, "... he slept together with the dogs
so as not to get frozen."

The dogs saved him from the white frosty death.
But the liver flukes they passed on
to their bedmate, killed him
on a lovely summer's day.

Jane Røken

If you have any comments on this poem, Jane Røken would be pleased to hear them.