Pride Month, and other Haibun - 14. Orlando Snapshots

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Orlando Snapshots –

Life with a puppy from ages nine-weeks

to seven-months can remind a person

what’s important. Here are some

Haiku-Stanzas to record them.

I.

See the world again

Through those dreamy puppy eyes

With fearless caution.

II.

Is it faith we see

When their gaze turns on to us,

In showers of trust?

III.

Higher to lower;

Dogs are most magnanimous

Forgiving our sins.

IV.

I stand with coffee

The morning of the first day,

Him curled on my feet.

V.

Awakening’s warmth:

For me, the rill of caffeine;

For him, it’s the rest.

VI.

Masetto at ten

Says: “Don’t touch my feet!” “Don’t climb

My back.” “Don’t look so sweet….”

VII.

Oh, to discover

The nature of a little ball

Is to bounce and fly!

VIII.

Every morning still

The screech of the city hawks

Frights his country soul.

IX.

In the dark of night,

Going out to do business,

All bluster is gone.

X.

Like swatting a fly,

Masetto flicks the play-charge

With the side of his head.

XI.

Silent as the sphinx,

Orlando sits and watches,

Learning how we tick.

XII.

Like the great scholars,

The puppy sits and observes,

Withholding comments.

XIII.

Last night’s shadows scare

Pup’s bedtime garden foray,

Not knowing they’re his.

XIV.

Life with a puppy:

Say “Goodbye” to clean flooring,

And “Hello, sunshine.”

XV.

A puppy’s mindset:

Ninety percent caprice, and…

Ten percent cunning.

XVI.

No personal space:

Orlando knows no boundaries

When he cuddles down.

XVII.

Never gave much thought

To life with a Pisces dog…

Yet, we’re so alike.

XVIII.

Like a bag of bones,

Puppy throws himself against

The exhausted floor.

XIX.

Hope is one word – DOG –

For boundless optimism

And limitless love.

XX.

When Orlando plays,

His moans beckon Masetto

To be young again.

XXI.

Dogs can absolve us;

Free of the Wheel of Dharma,

They forgive us, us.

XXII.

With a sa-shay tail

And the flip-floppiest ears,

All of puppy smiles.

XXIII.

Orlando grows big

And puppy traits leave his frame,

But not from his eyes.

XXIV.

When he looks at me,

The ridge of dirt on his nose

Says “I’ve been playing!”

XXV.

Puppy climbs on bed

Just to check we’ve survived

The night’s long dullness.

XXVI.

Lando’s “Good Morning!”

Is full of French kisses and

Elbows to the gut.

XXVII.

A proud life-moment:

Puppy discovers stuffed toys

Are full of stuffing.

XXVIII.

His first nail-trimming:

Ordeal; screaming; resistance –

But, I won’t give up.

XXIX.

Such is life, he hears

Me telling his trembling frame,

But all things are fair.

XXX.

His impossible

Puppy hair’s soft as floating

Dandelion fluff.

XXXI.

The faux hawk I work

Atop his sweet, trusting head,

Reminds me deeply.

XXXII.

His dear forefather

Leporello I would call

"My Punky Brewster."

XXXIII.

I'd forgotten why,

Until looking at this pup

Joined past with present.

XXXIV.

Generations go,

But things do not really change

Where love is concerned.

XXXV.

Second nail-trimming:

He stands and pants mildly;

"Is that all it is?"

XXXVI.

Textured like shagreen,

His nose is not satiny,

But rough as mohair.

XXXVII.

When he comes to kiss

Even in the dark of night,

I know him by his touch.

XXXVIII.

Like the Greek concept

When a boy comes to market,

Pup's beard shadows forth.

XXXIX.

Moorish poetry

Has an entire genre

Praising boys' first fuzz.

XL.

As his form stretches,

As growth takes over his mind,

Dog replaces pup.

XLI.

My Orlando's chin

Grows more mature by the day;

Soon he'll be a 'man'.

XLII.

One day soon, I'll look

and find my child replaced by

full-fledged worthiness.

XLIII.

Inheritance comes

And nobility assumes

He's one of their own.

XLIV.

Noble Airedale,

Your proud chin proclaims to all

My puppyhood's done.

XLV.

Magnanimous,

Rule over us lesser hearts,

Righteous Orlando.

XLVI.

Sad to think it’s done,

But glad to see him mature,

Words feel undone.

XLVII.

I look at his face,

Knowing his future’s sublime,

And grin, satisfied.

XLVIII.

Orlando’s Morning

Stretches full ahead of him:

This day’s a lifetime.

~

_