Lyrical

Lyrical
The spaniel next door yaps at the sparrows,
He yaps at the crows and the mailman,
Yaps at the compost pile and the sunflower,
Yaps at the rain and the sky.
He yaps at the steps leading down to the creek where the flax plants bloom high as my waist and blue flowers force their way up though small stones the color of night.
He yaps at the garbage truck's back-up beeper,
Iron bell song of the priest and bridegroom,
Song of the lone ship, song of the train,
Song of the big waves rolling and breaking over the western reefs.
He yaps at the rosebush,
Yaps at the fence, song of the sidewalk cracked in half,
The wine bottle resting against the curb,
The neighbor who doesn't come home.
by Joseph Millar, from Fortune (Eastern Washington University Press, 2007. )
I can thankfully say we don't have this problem. For the most part, we live in a quiet area. But I've lived in areas where a dog barks incessantly. We had a dog one time (he was our dog) that was barking up a storm so much that we went out to investigate. Do you know what he was barking at?
He was barking at a plastic Wal-Mart bag that had blown over from somewhere and was caught on a low growing shrub. I mean he was agitated! (So of course I rescued the bag from the dog or did I rescue the dog from the bag?)

Comments

Jill said…
I hear a Yapper going strong outside at my house but too tired to go see what the trouble may be! NO neighbors to worry about either! Cute spaniel pup!!
Laurie said…
Jill- Your yapper may be yappin at a chicken or a porker...or a bag!?
Yeah, isn't that a cute spaniel?
What's with all the collars, or are they medals?
Jill said…
Yes, I wondered about all his collars as well, maybe one is a shock collar to train him to stay away from the chickens!! Jack hasn't learned that yet!!
Laurie said…
Jill-
Yeah I think you are right about the shock collar!
Jack is learning, but the temptation is so great! All those gangly chickens!
Chris said…
I love dogs!

Ours doesn't yap, but rather has a hearty bark--woof! woof! Hysterically when the mailman or UPS, FED EX comes, but otherwise pretty well mannered...

Have you noticed that the dog is the only type of animal that has so many different looking and sounding varieties? Cows, cats, horses, all others are shaped pretty much the same with minor variations in color and fur texture, but dogs are all over the place in design and style.

(Personally, I think we need a new name for the little, frilly, yappy ones--not that I don't like them, but to me they are just not dogs--know what i mean? I hope I don't get hate mail for saying that.
Chris said…
BTW, the dog in your post is definitely a true dog...
TAB said…
Funny! Yes, sometimes those kind of dogs you want to just shoot.
Laurie said…
A man named Nels who works with my husband calls those "small, frilly, yappy" dogs "football dogs". I'm not sure why! ; )

Here's a quote from Ken Ham about such dogs:
"Now before the poodle lovers of the world unite, I do not hate poodles. They may be degenerate mutants, but they are cute ones! We have a pet dog at home. It looks like a poodle, but it’s not a poodle—it’s a Bichon Frise. My friends tell me though that because our dog looks like a poodle and barks like a poodle, then it’s a poodle! Now it may as well be a ‘poodle’ in the sense that it, too, is a degenerate mutant (though I dare not say this in the presence of my wife)."

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