Memorial Day

this puppy, on Memorial Day

this puppy padded gently

at my side

among the tombstones

and flags that marked lost soldiers

this puppy sniffed softly

in tune

with reverent feeling

amidst the dead on a chill morning

this puppy sat proudly

not forgetting

and held still for a photo

when he never would before

this puppy gazed calmly

as peace

surrounded us and geese honked overhead

in salute for service

The 8th ADBC--Marchin' to Your Own Drum

This is my post for the 8th Assistance Dog Blog Carnival, hosted by Brooke over at ruled by paws. Brooke creatively selected the topic "Marchin' to Your Own Drum." I decided to take her literally. Here's a poem about my Future Leader Dog "Scout" and our wonderful morning routine.

furry twister

when the sun peaks

around my blind in the morning,

a muttered whine drifts in

from the other room, my future

leader dog puppy Scout is ready

to bring on the day

my sweetie, like a gallant knight, arises

to grant me a few moments more

in bed

he dresses,

goes into the other room and clips open her crate

Scout sits, exhibiting

some semblance of self-control

he releases her

with a snap of her collar

I hear the tingle of her tag

and a rhythmic pat-a-pat-pat of her pads

as she waggles around to my side of the bed

with a castanet clap of her teeth

her tail drums

Good Morning! against my Teak wood dresser

the beat, beat, beat travels through her feet

and spirals out her bobble-head

a dancing furry twister

she can barely get a lick in

I doubt that anyone

could carry a crabby through the day

with a wake up like this

FLD Scout, my morning wake-up call!

For  more information about the ADBC, visit Sharon Waschler's blog post About the ADBC. Spread the word, participate, read and enjoy!

Winter Break - Take 2 Haiku

winter break in the "patch"

girls sleep in too long

black Lab alarm clock trio

brings the dead to life

Sofia and Elaina are up before Natalie. They decide she's had enough sleep and send the pups downstairs.

Natalie doesn't know what hit her. Scout howls "Get up!"

Gus and Elaina report, "Mission accomplished!"

Guide Dog Puppy Sponsorship Auction

Fellow blogger, Laura (she writes the blog "Dog's Eye View"), is hosting a Guide Dog Puppy Sponsorship Auction to raise money for Guide Dogs of America. Laura's second guide dog, Jack, is from Guide Dogs of America, and this auction is her way to give back to that organization. 

Laura's first guide dog was Leader Dog Willow, a yellow lab from Leader Dogs for the Blind. At that time Laura supported Leader Dogs in several ways, including her photo of LD Willow on Leader Dogs' 2007-08 holiday card.

At any rate, please take a moment to check out the items up for bid at Laura's auction by clicking HERE.

You might also want to check out my own contribution to the auction--my first "chapbook" of poems and photos inspired by raising Future Leader Dogs. Here is the link to my "puppy poetry and photos" book: puppy poetry and photos.

I will also donate $5 to Leader Dogs for the Blind in the name of the winner.

So put a bid in!

The auction runs from February 25 through Sunday, March 4 at 10:00 pm.

Here is the front of my chapbook. Cover is glossy photo paper.

The back cover.

An inside peek. There are 36 pages of photos and poems, some of which have never been published on my blog.

Cookie-Bake Tired-Puppy Recipe

Cousins Sofia, Claire, and Natalie--sugared out at our annual family cookie-bake.

 

INGREDIENTS

one puppy

one Lab

six kids + six "big" kids

cookie-dough

powdered sugar and sprinkles galore

• send puppy and Lab out to the fenced-in yard for a couple of hours of hard Lab-wrestling
• bring inside to chill

• mix six big kids with cookie-dough of various types
• let six little kids decorate cookies with sugar and sprinkles

Russian tea-cakes get powdered.

Elaina gets powdered, too!

Logan attempts the closed-eye technique with spritzer cookies. Zoey is skeptical.

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!!!

• allow puppy to wander underfoot

FLD Scout gets floured and sugared!

• bake

no need to clean floors afterwards

Sugared cookies.

Candy-cane cookies and "Belgium" waffles.

Just before my camera clicked, Scout's chin was flat on the floor between her paws, eyes slammed shut.

Tired puppy dreams of sugar-crumbs.

My cookie-bake FIB:

holiday mixings

two

Labs

six kids

cookie-bake

extravaganza

no need to clean floors afterwards

"Short-timer" FLD Gus--a good-bye poem

"what might be FLD Gus's last walk down Brady Road"

puppy pants steam a curl of pink tongue
and it's not even hot
today maybe a little muggy, clouds cling like lichen
I'm the first to spot the asphalt deposit, two-dollars and nine cents
in change, a motherlode of luck I think,
"A good omen
for his journey?  Or extra cash for dogfood
if he returns?"

I'm avoiding, distracting
with other words, other worlds like Gypsy--
if I can't see it, it isn't
really there, so I'm ignoring another
good-bye, a river and a ditch!

I wish
him dogspeed and
hope
I haven't ruined him, showing him
how to clear the woods trail
I hope
he doesn't decide one day to grab somebody's ankle
and rip them out of the way for his handler to pass
carrying a long stick might be a better way
bruised calves and shins will part the crowds
like water

he brings me shoes again he knows something is up

a coyote serenade beyond the hill
screams my puppy breath addiction

one goes on
one more will pounce paw prints
on my heart

behind us
a lone loon moan
          whispers
so long

FLD Gus winks at me. "Don't you worry about me, kid!"

Poetry: Puppy Walks

Yesterday's walk on country roads prompted me to revisit a poem I've been brewing.  I don't think it is finished, yet,  but here is "part 1."

puppy walks

1.  city walk

keyed-up morning puppy percolates testosterone

Who's there?          What's that?

block-head dodges the downshift scream

of a semi

passing

close

          in the city

crows CAW raucous

just to be heard above the drone

of radials

on concrete

          in the city

rabbits snack on tended tulips

and grow COLOSSAL under

weathered redwood

          in the city

backyard hounds HOWL jealous

detained

by chain-link fences, fur-raised

in complaint

3 miles later

the key turns abandonment

into calm coffee--

a 3rd bunny          bursts out ahead

draws notice,

nothing

more

Poetry: Puppies in the Fire Station!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Puppy outing at Macomb Township Fire Station #3.

Puppies in the Fire Station!

Puppies in the fire station

puppies in the fire station

who rang the bell?

Puppy-counselor Nance leads her puppy-group.

Canvas-coated monster

looms breathing hard like Vader

char-blooy-ee smell!

FLD Lincoln sneaks a treat.

Golden puppy looks away

wants to play, wants to play

Nyla-in-the-dell.

FLD Misha would rather play than meet the fireman.

Sirens wailing side to side

not one puppy bolts to hide

aren't the puppies swell?

Puppies and raisers unfazed by loud Engine #3.

Round and round the engine goes

dogs' heads follow with their nose

ring the bell, we won't tell!

FLD Gus and FLD Buster calmly watch the fire-truck race by.

Up and down the stairy-scares

wrinkles whiskers on their hairs

open-grated stairwell.

FLD Gus descends the scary, open-metal stairs.

 Puppies in the fire station

puppies in the fire station

who rang the bell?

Did you?

 

Poetry: "Monster Paws" by Sofia

As promised, here is Sofia's poem about FLD Gus and his MONSTER PAWS!

Monster Paws

Boom!  Boom!  Boom!

Boom!  Boom!  Boom!

Guess who's come'n

Monster paws it must be

Tromping through the forest

And through the trees,

Monster paws

Monster paws

It must be,

But who is monster paws?

Only a puppy, you see

Guster buster

Guster buster

The forest Gus

Tromping through the forest

With his big, huge...

MONSTER PAWS!!!!!!!!!

-Sofia Bicego

2011

Poetry: A Flying Puppy FIB

FLD GUS:  FLYING PUPPY

FLD Gus has this flying-thing going on lately.  Everywhere he goes, he LEAPS.  LEAPS onto his mat, LEAPS through the snow to find a place to "park," LEAPS over puddles of slush at the corner when we cross the street.

It is as if he has springs for legs.

The other morning, he decided that a comfortable place to chew his Kong was ON MY LAP.  I was sitting on a low rocking chair and he sat facing me, red Kong hanging out the side of his mouth like a cigar.  Without warning, without coiling to spring, he SPRANG straight UP and landed on my lap, light as a feather!

What control!  What precision!

Andy was relaxing on the recliner across from me.  After a few moments of uncontrolled giggling, I said, I wish you could have seen him from this angle!

After a few more moments of unabashed guffawing, Andy replied, "I was wishing you could have seen him from my angle!"

Oh silly puppy.  Those aren't wings, but springs! 

A FIB IN RESPONSE

          "puddle-jumping puppy"

          spring

          wings

          take air--

          precision

          in 53 pounds--

          Labrador learns levitation

Poetry: FLD Gus Heels Down a Country Road

On Brady Road, looking south.

"Future Leader Dog Gus heels down a country road"


no wild romp in the woods today

baby-blue working vest on
we walk south along Brady Road
which ripples past our house like a shaken rug
stones scattered across the ditch
echo
the snow plows thrust, we hear traffic
long before it arrives
and have time
to step off the pavement onto the shoulder

Gus's nose drops

deer tracks
gouged in wet gravel are like magnets pulling steel
I say leave it
his head jerks up
as if the magnet just flipped over

Gus straightens, detecting
a pair of geese circling above a pond
honking to announce a threesome launch from water laced ice,
wings whacking wind
for lift

he bounces,
watching
and does not break his heel

Poetry: Haiku Flying Puppy

FLD Gus comes flying when called!

"flying puppy"

I merely called "come"

little black Lab wheeled and launched
transformed super-pup!

Poetry: Haiku Teeth

"at 5 1/2 months"

terrible teething

leaves blood spots and horrible breath

canine   hanging    on

FLD Gus looses another tooth.

New teeth coming in; canines still holding.

Poor FLD Gus...he doesn't quite know what to do!

My niece, Elaina, wrote this wonderful poem about the newest member of her family, cc'd Rosie.  Enjoy!


LICKY LAB LICKERS
    -by Elaina Bicego, 2010


How about them licky lab lickers,
aren't they annoying?
Saying hello,
by tasting you.

Lickin' your feet,
Lickin' your ankles,
Lickin' your ears,
and your hands.

You stare at them,
and yell at them.
Nothing makes them stop!

Licky Lab Lickers,
greeting you at the door.
Drooling and barking,
so delighted to see you.

They're always going to be there.
Waiting, watching, anticipating.
They'll stay annoying,
but count on them to brighten your day!

cc'd Rosie, lickin' it up with Elaina

 ROSIE!!!

Poetry: Walking the Dogs After Thanksgiving

"wandering with my dogs on the day after Thanksgiving"


dog tags tinkle
in dissonance against the snap of puddles under foot,
leftovers from last night's rainsong

the pup alerts--
a somersaulting oak leaf tumbles over frosty grass,
lifted by a gust, it is gone

ricocheted rays
off curb-ice-crust arrests my wayward glance, I pause,
blinded; dogs sniff, then we walk on


before long
the winter wind which croons with tree limbs
will not vie for our attention above the grousing of blue-traffic-clatter
and we will live
in the woods
before long

Leaves caught in a splintered, frozen puddle.

Poetry: Haiku Ice

Ice in the puddles this morning, the day after Thanksgiving, during my morning walk with FLD Gus.

"ice frost"

finger tips tingle

tucked in gloves, puddles shatter

under-boot; don't slip!

Poetry: An Early Morning Puppy-Walk

A poem, inspired by my morning walk.

To read the poem above, "what makes a fall wind winter-y?" click on the picture and it will enlarge in your browser.  I did it this way to preserve the formatting.  Below is the same poem, although the formatting that I wanted might not be preserved in the post in all browser windows.  I wrote this after a nice long walk with FLD Gus and Gypsy this morning.

“what makes a fall wind winter-y?”

freight-train northern gusts

force a frost

            and wrestle with last-to-let-go leaves

this morning my cheeks glow burgundy

                         hands

                        wither

                           into

                           coat

                      sleeves

                      seeking

                      warmth

blood-flow squeezed by leather leashes,

my dogs on either side             prance in an eager march

Halloween decorations are stored away

save for a hostage ghoul with bound hands trussed on a tree trunk; the hiss

from inflatable spiders escapes

from cartoon turkeys now instead

my dogs scrutinize them as we pass

                                                             wary

winter is coming

          but not today

-by patti

11/5/10

Poetry: Haiku Buddha-Belly Puppy

Natalie and FLD Gus, first day, 11 lbs.

"two pounds in two weeks"

she'd best pick him up

every day--Buddha-belly

puppy grows too fast

Sofia watches Natalie try to hang on to FLD Gus two weeks later; 13 lbs.

Labor Day Dog

Thanks to all the workers who make things possible.  May you find rest enough to continue!

Here, a poem to honor all the working (and future working) dogs....

Labor Day Dog

Listen.  I perceive an

angel among us prepared to

boldly guide; a four-legged leader who will

obediently secure safe

routes for his handler.

Dangers and barriers

abridged, all in a

yeomanly manner.

FLD Mike, at the ready.

        

Poetry: Haiku Precipitation

late night shower

listen to the rain

rinse away the ragweed spores

humid head release

Goldenrod, not ragweed, along the Au Sable River.