"Bad Dog"

Wyatt Prunty is a professor of English at The University of the South and the founding director of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. He is the author of nine collections of poems, including The Lover’s Guide to Trapping and Couldn’t Prove, Had to Promise. He lives in Sewanee.

Bad Dog

He was a bad dog, and he did not care.
When nature called he stood and lifted there.
He chewed socks, rugs, and shoes, the rungs of chairs.
Put on a leash, he locked his legs. He would not budge.
Asleep, he barked and chased what was not there.
Awake, he barked and chased what was not there.
When danger knocked he shrugged.

I see him still that way, facing the door,
Floppy and kind, wet nose against the glass
Or scratching over ears where going bald,
Then sniffing round to find just where he lifted earlier;
The which he did just once more when at last
Nature called and he followed.

Copyright (c) 2015 by Wyatt Prunty. All rights reserved. Prunty is a professor of English at The University of the South and the founding director of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. He is the author of nine collections of poems, including The Lover’s Guide to Trapping. He lives in Sewanee. He will read from his new book, Couldn’t Prove, Had to Promise, at Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 24, 2015, at 6:30 p.m. Joining him will be poet Adam Vines, author of The Coal Life.