Prayer for the Dog in a Nearby Car
While waiting for a light that’s stuck on red,
I watch a window letting through a snout
that bounces with a tether-balling head
in mad pursuit of bees that fly about.
“When winning costs too much, it’s best to fail”
appears a thing he hasn’t yet been taught,
and frantic wagging of his shaggy tail
suggests a bee’s a bug he’s never caught.
I hope that bees remain beyond his reach,
that life permits no sober, yelping day
occasion for a punctured face to teach
the dog to fear a chase he thought was play.
Oh, God of Dogs, allow your earthly son
to truly win by having never won.
Paul Burgess
If you have any thoughts
about this poem, Paul
Burgess would like to hear them
