Satchmo

A "Satchmo" stand in.


Doug and I have a friend on San Juan Island; more than one actually.
Doug wrote: "Satchmo, will not be seen because we took not a camera on the walk we took that passed his house.
Satchmo is a bear shaped, bear sized and bear colored dog who sometimes accompanies Robin's walks.
Robin has written a poem."

Satchmo

He sits in the road
for I don't know how long
looking at I don't know what.

On my daily walk
I round the corner
and he's sitting there as usual.

Looking right at me,
he begins to wag his tail.
"Hey, Satchmo," I call.

Because he's eleven
it takes a few secs
to heft his 70 or so pounds.

But once up,
he comes exuberating,
full speed, toward me.

If he were a child,
I'd call it "skipping"
If a horse, "prancing".

But he's a dog,
so I say his happy paws
are "exuberating"!

Big, shaggy and black,
except for the tips of his paws,
which are shaggy and white,


he arrives at my feet and sits,
leaning his full bulk
against my right leg.

His thick, bushy tail
swishes back and forth
across my left shoe

as I skritch his ears
crooning to him about
what a good beast he is.

We are together like that
for awhile, just the two of us
along the winding road.

With perfect synchronicity,
we both tire of each other
at about the same time.

Satchmo, with a last glance
at my face and a final swoosh
of his tail, gets up and

saunters across the road
to read the signpost in the grass
and mark that we were there

I continue up the road
not outwardly skipping
but lifting my inner feet,

pleased with the moment,
the road, Satchmo, myself
and life in general.

-Robin Atkins @ 2009.