This work was published in The Avenue Journal, Issue X: Dogs
The Dog Has Four Feet But He Takes Only One Path 1
by Pamela Ahlen
At sunrise I open the shutters and see below a pack of six dogs asleep on cool sidewalk stone, minutes later decamping into Old Havana—Jack Russell knock-offs, dachshund types and low-slung hounds—no frou-frous in tutus—another day of street to street and door to door, the occasional baring of teeth and alpha posturing, free to scout the cobblestones, autonomous as gods. Dogs lose no time in tail-circling indecision, follow their instincts—one direction for a bone, another for a cooling drink, listening to their Inner Bark. El perro tiene cuatro patas y coge un solo camino—a decisiveness I secretly envy. Maybe I’ll learn to lap the miracle of rain after scorching sun, praise the cooling dark.
- Afro-Cuban/Carribean Proverb ↩︎
Pamela Ahlen is special events coordinator for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Dartmouth. She compiled and edited Osher’s Anthology of Poets and Writers: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years at Dartmouth. Pamela received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is the author of the chapbook Gather Every Little Thing (Finishing Line Press) and the co-author (with Anne Bower) of Getting it Down on Paper, Shaping a Friendship (Orchard Street Press).
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