Prince Harry & other original Pet Poems

the House of Love is pet friendly

I love pets.

I take care of pets professionally, although walking a dog in a park hardly resembles a job to me, except when it’s snowing and the poop bag explodes, or when there are no poop bags and the dog runs off or the dog owner gets weird or the cat scratches my face, or the kitty litter box is…then, it’s job-like. But generally, pet-sitting is just one big opportunity to be in the house of love with slobber, pet fur, purring, panting, licking and snuggling. .

In April 2024 to honor National Poetry Month I wrote a handful of poems about pets I have met and doodled some images. I thought I would share them with you here.

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Prince Harry

Prince Harry Knight of Ren

He got beat up bad one time.
His head
Never sat straight again
Left eye pushed back
The other askew
In short a wreck
With no purr
Just a wheeze
That on my lap
Would pair his brokenness
With mine
Break for break
And repair us.

© 2024 Karin Bardarson / All Rights Reserved

Circus

Charlie Parker under the big tent.

One day when it got so gray
So mean and hard and desultory
We simply had to run away
And join the circus.

Charlie wore a collar frill
And little dog pants of purple silk
I donned my ballerina tights
And tied a scarf around my waist.

We followed popcorn candy smells
Big bass drum beats and calliope peels
Up long hills and down again
Until we reached the circus tent.

Charlie leapt through hoops of fire
And rode on the back of a prancing mare
I forgot about the war
As I balanced aloft on the tight-rope wire.

© 2024 Karin Bardarson / All Rights Reserved

I Saw Myself

Daisies

I saw myself.
I just walked by my window
With a dog I never had
But could have had
Both the dog and I walked fast
Like confidence walks
With no-nonsense knowing 
Along her path.

I saw the feral beauty 
Of twenty-one
Dark blonde 
Un-ironed
I saw myself there
In the scar-less state 
Pre-bitter taste
A face of clear sky.

I saw myself 
And my dog
Fresh as daisies 
Stop and pee on something 

Freely.

© 2024 Karin Bardarson / All Rights Reserved

Sasha

Sasha

Beyond the mowed edge
Behind the bed of witch hazel and rhododendron
Through a cat-sized aperture into the dark ravine tangle
Sasha becomes
The prowler
The stalker
The killer.

We do not know her thus
But encounter damning evidence
Left in the sun
On the back porch step
A little mouse without a head
A bloody feather tuft
A tiny heart with aorta string
And must concede.

Sasha the purring lap lover
is a brutal beast

© 2024 Karin Bardarson / All Rights Reserved

Ruff

The beautiful German Shepherd stuck in a car on a hot night with just the windows cracked.

If I could reach the ruff
Get past the teeth and the chops
The long tongue-licked lips
Saliva-ed snarl
Whisper, “Here boy, here boy.”
”It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Bury a hand, fingers splayed into the coat
Beguile the beast to trust my touch
Then, maybe,
I could gently,
Maybe,
I could slowly,
With my free hand
Unlock the door
And set him free.

© 2024 Karin Bardarson / All Rights Reserve

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Let me know if you liked my pet poems. Please leave a comment. Tell me about your critter(s). Feel free to share my newsletter with your friends. Everyone is welcome - with their pets - Here in the House of Love!