poem of the day 08.28.08

brown dog

in sunset park
a mexican queen is making
all kinds of noise
in the morning.
he is shouting and dancing
and spinning around
a telephone pole
while people are trying
to get to work.
he might be drunk.
i think he is drunk for sure
when he goes into
the street to stop traffic.
no one cares
except for the people
behind the wheel of their cars
late for miserable jobs
or bad conversation over
bad coffee.
the mexican queen is not
interesting, though he
probably thinks he is.
what is interesting
is this brown dog chained up
outside a bodega.
he has long red eyes
and the way his mouth bends
he looks like he’s just had it
with the world.
typically i don’t like dogs
but i stare at this one
while horns honk
and the mexican queen shouts
herself back on the street.
i think i want to do something
for this dog.
but the best i can think to do
is just leave him alone,
which i’m sure was greatly
appreciated
over petting him and making him
wag his tail for me.