Walking the Dog II

Here's a slightly lighter poem.


                                                        Walking the Dog II


                                        My wife informs me I am mistaken;
                                        our dog is not marking her territory
                                        when she pees. Instead, she is entering
                                        into a liquid conversation- “a time-delayed
                                        meet and greet” – with other dogs, past and
                                        future, who pass this way and piss this way
                                        before and after ours has pissed and passed.
                                        This is not instantaneous text messaging
                                        but a sort of leisurely canine committee
                                        of correspondence, a conference call
                                        in non-real time. But the basic message
                                        is the same as it has always been
                                        from the caveman through Kilroy:
                                        I was here. Were you here, too?