There is excitement about.
My people are rushing and fussing.
I run up and down
Trying to understand.
Will you be long?
Must I wait here while you’re gone?
At last the car is packed.
My heart leaps as I see
There on the back seat
My own special blanket is stacked!
I jump in the car and wait.
Now all my people get in.
The engine starts
And our journey begins.
I try to look, I try to smell.
Their excitement tells me all is well.
But I need to know
Where do we go?
I step on Sharon,
My tail in her face
And I see her grimace
As I drool on her lap.
Then she smiles and strokes behind my ears,
Opens the window and allays my fears.
The smells of home drift further away.
After awhile I smell sea spray.
I smell cars and trains
And hear people shout.
The car stops and we get out.
It is dark
Yet they take me to a park.
We run and jump and play.
This is an unusual day!
Then back in the car we squeeze.
It smells and feels like a train.
There is little to see
And I want to sleep.
I turn and lie and sit and twist.
The mud from my paws
Covers her jeans.
A grimace, a smile
And I’m cuddled again
As I finally lay my head on her lap.
We journey on
And on.
Stops in the heat of the day
For water and play
Where the air smells of heat,
Dry grass and garlic in the meat.
I greet other dogs on the leash
Then we are freed to run and leap.
I roll in the grass
I prance and cover myself
In the fragrance of France.
Finally we arrive!
Out of the car I dive
Into the long, dry straw.
I remember now!
I’ve been here before!
I run and frolic with my friend.
Space and warmth and grass and play.
My people bustling round me all day.
No longer alone till the end of the day
To wait and yearn
While they’re out to earn.
They take me on a river boat
They want to teach me how to float.
But I prefer to stand on deck
And look and smell and check.
I cannot talk and cannot say
But see the rhythm of my tail
And know my heart is singing.
I love to be in the south of France
With the long warm days
And the long dry grass.
By: Sharon Heaney Stansfield