'A Day in the Country' by Donal Mahoney

A Day in the Country
 
The cur dog
tethered to a stake
across the road
runs back and forth
barking all day
then breaks free.
He’s off and running
down the road, happy
as a dog can be.
 
Across the road Willie
in his rocker on the porch
cheers the dog’s escape
and tells his wife
knitting in another rocker
that he’s a cur dog, too,
tethered to the Earth
but only for a spell.
He’ll break free as well,
 
something he has told her
many times before in
50 years of marriage.
Despite his fantasies
she loves him still
and fills his pipe,
sticks it in his mouth
and lights it as he did
for himself for years.
Then she tells him we'll
do what the dog did, Willie.
We’ll bark all day and see.
 
 
Donal Mahoney