Another Reason I Don't Keep A Gun In The House

Another Reason Why I Don't Keep A Gun In The House


The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high,
rhythmic bark that he barks every time
they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony
full blast
but I can still hear him muffled
under the music,
barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting
in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently
as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends
he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section
barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor
who is entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen
in respectful silence to the famous
barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first
established Beethoven
as an innovative genius.

Billy Collins

Posted over in Poemhunter