To a Stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years from Now

by Billy Collins

"I write poems for a stranger who will be born in
some distant country hundreds of years from now."
Mary Oliver

Nobody here likes a wet dog.
No one wants anything to do with a dog
that is wet from being out in the rain
or retrieving a stick from a lake.
Look how she wanders around the crowded pub tonight
going from one person to another
hoping for a pat on the head, a rub behind the ears,
something that could be given with one hand
without even wrinkling the conversation.

But everyone pushes her away,
some with a knee, others with the sole of a boot.
Even the childeren, who don't realize she is wet
until they go to pet her,
push her away
then wipe their hands on their clothes.
And whenever she heads towards me,
I show her my palm, and she turns aside.

O stranger of the future!
O inconceivable being!
Whatever the shape of your house,
however you scoot from place to place,
no matter how stange and colorless the clothes you wear,
I bet everybody in your pub,
even the childen, pushes her away.

What happened to the dog?

This is the ques a friend of mine asked me via email. For those of you who, like my friend, couldn't get thru on the site to lv a comment -- i've been wondering why i haven't been getting any comments @ ALL!-- i wanted to let you know what happened. I've been so busy w/ job search & trying to set up interviews &, let's face it, a million & one things that crop up during the course of a life, that when i called the ASPCA on tues to find out how the dog was doing, i was just overwhelmed w/ just this-- i don't think guilt-- regret the whole day. The long & short of it is the person i spoke w/ said they did get a call fr the area but never came to pick the dog up.

I went back to the check cashing place yest to find out what happened to the dog since these people never even showed up to get it! The young lady i spoke w/ said that the dog disappeared & that her co-worker then saw the dog in the garbage can in front out on the sidewalk.

To say i'm so overwhelming disappointed in the ASPCA is a complete understatement. I spoke w/ the same person this morning-- a very nice person who expressed his sympathies when i told him the ultimate fate of that puppy-- & @ this point i was trying not to break down crying. He explained that they can't always pick up all the animals that they get a call for in the course of a day. That they're a small org trying to service a wide area. That more often than not they do go & get the animal, & he recounted the # of animals that they did pick up that day.

It's cold comfort tho that this puppy wasn't one of them & so ended up dead. It says something so bad about the brutality of, i know not all but, some people. When i called on tues & was told the dog wasn't picked up, i asked "what happens when you guys don't go get them." He said well the police could have gone & gotten it. Well, i won't go into my views on the awful NYPD-- just about the last people anyone would want to call in an Emergency (which would make them happy, since they really could care less about what happens to the innocent).

But i blame myself too for not staying w/ that dog. I just never thought it would all end like this.

I saw just about the saddest thing today

On my way to one of the train stas in my Bklyn neighborhood, i saw this half-grown, seemed to be, boxer mix still in puppyhood-- she/he (in all the commotion i didn't even think of checking gender) had the fine squared head & bright glossy eyes i've somehow come to assoc w/ boxers-- trying to get inside a check cashing store. This little dog was so covered w/ cuts, bruises & smelled so bad, yet when i bent down to touch her/him was so energetic & friendly. I didn't know what to think as i went into the check cashing place & asked whose dog it was.
All the people waiting for service said it was, obviously, a stray & i said the poor thing needed to go to the animal shelter. My distraction seemed to be what the resourceful little dog was waiting for as he/she slipped in. One of the employees shouted that the ASPCA was on their way, as me & this young guy chased the dog all over the store. It must have taken us about 10 mins to get this dog back outside. It's a little over 20 degrees today, after our big snowfall yesterday, & i didn't blame her/him for wanting to stay inside where it was warm.
I wanted to wait for the ASPCA to come, but i had an appointment in Manhattan that i was going to be, at least, a half an hour late for as it was. I tried to tie her/him up w/ a plastic bag-- so that people coming in & out wouldn't be pushing at the dog's constant attempt to get back in out of the shivering cold-- but, walking away, i looked back & saw that already the poor thing had slipped out of that makeshift leash.
Being more of a cat person, i don't know too much about dogs. But more than ever i wished i wasn't so completely down & out. Already such a sweet dog-- didn't even put up much of a fight when me & the kid caught & carried her/him back out-- w/ care & comfort that dog would make such a wonderful loyal pet.
I'm going to try to find out what happened w/ that dog tomorrow. I come across so many strays on the streets & it makes me so sad. Things are so difficult right now. The no-kill animal shelter i worked for last yr in Queens has closed down-- along w/ another of the org's facilities. But so many orgs had had to restrict their resources or have gone out of business & w/ jobs so scarce i'm sure a lot of families, along w/ their pets, aren't too sure where the next meal is coming fr.