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.