I Am Buddy

I’m so confused

my dad can’t get out of bed

when he does

he gets into this fancy chair

that moves on its own

sometimes it almost runs me over

I get up on the bed

lick his face

when I used to do that

he’d get up and take me for a walk

I wander the neighborhood

I go from house to house

looking for treats

I know Fish will always 

have one for me

my next door neighbor

has two kids who feed me

table scraps

I love it there

often I sleep on their couch

I sleep in our driveway

I bark at all the people

visiting our busy house

today I barked at

the delivery guy

bringing a new patio door

so my dad

can go on the back porch

sometimes I get confused

about who my friends are

I bare my teeth

bark loudly

at people I care about

I should know better

my family

went to Salt Lake City

so my dad could get a feeding tube

I went to Barbara and Taylor’s house

in their backyard was a moose

with a big rack

I tried to chase him away

but he was not afraid of me

Katie risked her life

saved me from the moose

who was about to stomp on me

yesterday during a storm

I ran all the way

to the opposite side of the neighborhood

everybody knows me

so I sat on a stoop

until Pride let me in

today I ran away again

Jill found me

on my way to the highway

she let me in her car

drove me home

but I wouldn’t get out of the car

she came into the house

looking for help

even Howie couldn't 

get me out of the car

I snarled

I grit my teeth

I made terrible sounds

Michele pushed me out

by using a broom

that’s degrading

today my dad finally

took me for a walk

I chased a pick-up truck

showed it a thing or two

when my family

got me from the pound

eight years ago

my name was Biggie

because I’m a big dog

in a small body

Freddy, the dog down the street

is ten times my size

but I chase him

all over the place 

if my family

would pay more attention

to me

I might settle down

but until then

I’m going to wander