Barking

By Jim Harrison

The moon comes up.

The moon goes down.

This is to inform you

that I didn’t die young.

Age swept past me

but I caught up.

Spring has begun here and each day

brings new birds up from Mexico.

Yesterday I got a call from the outside

world but I said no in thunder.

I was a dog on a short chain

and now there’s no chain.

Copyright Credit: Jim Harrison, "Barking" from Poetic License CD set. Copyright © 2010 by Jim Harrison. Reprinted by permission of GPR Records.

Source: Poetry (September 2008)