I know how my day will go by the people I meet
When I walk first thing in the morning on the
street.
I can tell by their reactions the sort of day
I can expect. The healthy ones running are
best,
Often friendly, always focused and moving so
I know my day will be like that if only
I can avoid the others, the scowling neighbors,
The pajama people pushing their trash cans
To the curb like stoic, somnambulant slaves in
hell.
The dog people are worse because they move like
zombies
Possessed by their pets and let their dogs off
leash,
Unleashing them in the park, the dog days of
summer
Are upon us, and I know my day will be just so.
I turn and cross to evade but my fate is
sealed.
The dog people want to encounter others walking
And want people to admire their dogs, no doubt
Because they have no lives without their dogs.
When I was younger I used to go along
And pretend to adore the dogs, but now I ignore
The dogs and their persons, and I do not let
Them sniff my hand because dogs smell dislike
And yet they like me even from a distance.
I can see in their eyes and the way they
hesitate
Not wanting to go with their persons, thinking
I
Am a better human, but they are wrong as surely
As I know when I see them gazing longingly
My day will be like the life they want to live
With a love I know I can never have or give.
KLK
7/26/17
