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Flashback Doggie
There were a succession of Tuffies
firstly your sister’s wire haired piebald
I remember him from when she was eight
listening while you read her bed time stories
Tuffy junior after old doggie succumbed to
brain cancer, a copy perfect as a Chinese
master reproduction, stiff as a brushstroke
air-dried in mid bark, left with a friend
when we emigrated
And Tuffy three, a replica not as perfect
who needed constant trimming to maintain
his crew cut but had the gruffest lower register
growl and didn’t give a damn as with haughty
upheld leg he sprayed tree after tree
After you had left, forever, unbelievably,
Tuffy three was collected by some anonymous
neighbor, sent off to some anonymous new
home, forgotten unforgivably in my sorrow
Not even a photo remains of any one of them
yet, so many years later, whenever I see
a wire haired terrier, something inside sighs
with uncontrollable nostalgia at his roughly
cut out shape, his strutting walk, even his
stiff upheld back leg until he disappears
again round some corner
out of my life again
© Johnmichael Simon
2012
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