the girl-dog next door is sweet nala/she has close-cropped strawgold hair/and light-milk-chocolate eyes/a pushed-in puggy face/a nose-wiping tongue/and on her short legs she has sidewalk-skittery clawpaws

and when my neighbor brings her out/and i am out there too/nala doesn’t know what to do/because she is so shy but also desperate for the love of every human being available/so she looks up at me with her pleading face/but backpedals when i extend a hand

when I walk away she strains to come after me/if i stand there long enough she jumps up/ putting her clawpaws just above my knee

and finally i get to scratch her under the collar/and her eyes almost roll up

and then i must go about my business/despite sweet nala’s eyes

pleading/pleading/pleading