This poem was published in The Avenue Journal, Issue X: Dogs
Hudson Trains Me
by Kristin Camitta Zimet
H. Lovewoof wears his Dogness
like baggy jeans and mudcaked
barnboots that embarrass me.
Never mind who sees him.
He tacks smell-to-smell, omits
no grassblade or grease spot,
finds news spilling out,
though I can seldom grasp
his point. Pulls at all comers,
bouncer, growler I would
cross the street to miss,
wags them, approves.
Takes them whole, tailsmell,
bellysmell, mats and lumps
and leaks I shy away from.
Also, without a mirror,
likes and licks himself
for the pure satisfaction.
Goes right to what matters,
noses it into reach or gets
me to retrieve it, will not
fumble with politeness.
Snaps up what falls from table,
knows it comes from heaven,
finds it good. Lunges at love.
Sheds all over it. Curls at its feet.
Forgives me. Forgives.
Kristin Camitta Zimet is the author of TAKE IN MY ARMS THE DARK, a poetry collection. Her poems have been published around the world, in journals including Image, Rivet, and Sequestrum. Her work has been hung in museums and performed in spaces from arboretum to concert hall. She has had 17 remarkable dog companions.
You can purchase The Avenue Journal Issue X: Dogs in paperback at Bookshop.org, or, if you prefer it in digital format, you can download the ebook in .epub format for pay-what-you-can (suggested donation $9) at ko-fi.