Dec 5, 2011

Another reason why I don’t keep a gun in the house.

What do Billy Collins, forever-barking-dogs, mindless neighbors and Beethoven have in common?

I guess you’ll just have to read this poem to find out.

I hope you can relate, even if the latest barking in your life doesn’t come from a dog.

Of course this is just one more reason to replace your gun with a meditation cushion. I’m sure you can think of 99 more imperative ones.

The neighbors’ dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.

The neighbors’ dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.