Ol’ Dog
The proper southern home is not complete without its front porch
Before Willis Carrier it offered a hint of shade and the only escape from
The stifling heat to catch a bit of breeze or sip cool lemonade
The kind of center of traditional family life
And no porch is complete without an ol’ dog
It’s a special kind of decoration and a pedigree pooch won’t pass muster
What is required is a mangy mongrelly kind of hound of
Unknown lineage-his daddy was just passing through town
It can be displayed in several ways-under the porch seeking shade
And thankfully bringing the fleas along
Or above languishing in the empty space along the cracked boards
Between the weathered rockers struggling to hang on to their last
Flecks of paint
The couch now mostly bulging foam relic from some past lay away
The dead stove gently and quietly rusting with the seasons
When work weary bones trudge the dirt path to home
He’s there
Tail wag wiggling from the neck down
Ol’ dog is always as happy to see you as the first time
And no stately mansion offers a finer welcome mat
_______________________________________
Jim Carson is an Architect living in Atlanta with his wife, daughter and Snickers the wonder dog. His work has been published in numerous journals and includes poems published at The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Southern Fried Weirdness, The Foliate Oak, Clapboard House and Pocket Change (of which he has received little for his work). He can be reached at jcarson@ncgarch.com.