Fetch
Lucy's half wild
Dingo and Cattle Dog mixed
Energy and to spare.
The morning air
Is punctuated with barking
Lucy demanding work.
She's at the stairs
Staring impatiently up at me
Tennis ball in her mouth.
There's a rhythm to it.
The ball flies,
Lucy thunders after it.
Again and again
She snags the ball
Almost flying - focused
She gallops back
Releases the ball
Rolling it to my feet.
She pauses tense
Trying to anticipate
Which way I'll throw it next.
Then sailing off into
The crisp morning air.
Yellow ball, gray dog in pursuit.
And back and forth
Go ball and dog
The game slows imperceptibly.
Panting Lucy drops
The ball a little farther
From my feet.
Is that enough?
I pick it up and fling it
And dutifully off she goes.
In hot pursuit she leaps
And snags the ball
No less enthusiastically.
She stops before returning
Hides the ball in a bush
Returning empty-mouthed
No more fetch for now
Trip to the water bowl
And then a nap.
Till later when
I'll find Lucy barking
At the foot of the stairs.
Yellow ball in her mouth.
© by Tom King
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