“What would the world be like without dogs?” -Mary Oliver
By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall
Our little bit of the world was frozen that day
At the dentist’s office something that makes something else
Do something else was frozen and would not work
And so I waited with Mary’s book about dogs
“Dog is one of the messengers of that rich and still magical first world.”
The frost was still upon the windowsill
As an hour passed for me and Mary’s dogs
Their adventures in the woods, their lonely times
Their happy glances into their human’s eyes
“Our new dog, named for the beloved poet, / ate a book”
Even though the something else was frozen in ice
Our little bit of the world was warmer for an hour
“Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own is increase”
Quotes from Mary Oliver, Dog Songs, Penguin, New York: 2013
LogoSophia Magazine 