Poetry for the Dog Days

Cleo and I are both feeling the dog days of summer.

Neither one of us has been too motivated lately. The hot afternoon winds are lasting far too long into my typically cool Silver Valley evenings. Normally, I would have already made an evening phone call this summer to my sister Laurie to tease her about the level of comfort in my backyard after a blistering hot day, while she sweats in her southern Idaho desert 100 degree evening, but this heat wave has kept me from being able to brag.

In his epic poem, the Iliad, Homer gives us an early literary reference which helps explain the origin of that term “the dog days of summer.”

Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky

On summer nights, star of stars,

Orion's Dog they call it, brightest

Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat

And fevers to suffering humanity.

The heat seems to have made my mind mushy, and my body doesn’t feel much better. But, I have a blog post deadline I like to stick to, so I’d better get busy. I don’t have time for an epic poem like Homer’s, but since it has been a while since I’ve shared any poetry with my readers, let’s see if my doggy muse can give me some inspiration…Come here, Cleo…oh what a nice puppy.

The muse is a creature of leisure;

Inspiration is bought with time.

So believed the tired, busy man

Until by accident his hand fell on

a pen.

And a poet poured forth.

Some say writing is a compulsion

An urge that must be satisfied

An unshared secret that prods

             the unconscious mind

Begging to be set free.

Fools.

How can they believe such - 

             Hold that thought.

             There’s something

             I have to write down. 

I like to call those two poems examples of my “Crane poetry” patterned after the short free verse poetry of Stephen Crane. He was best known for his novel The Red Badge of Courage, but I love reading his image filled short poems, and trying to write in a similar style.

Crane’s poetry, like Shakespeare’s sonnets, asks to be taken seriously, which can be a daunting task during these dog days, so I’ll leave you with something a bit more light hearted. This one is just for fun.

                       Just Coffee

I knew I needed coffee as I started on my day

I pulled up to the intercom, and I heard a kind voice say

“Welcome to McDonald’s, may I take your order please?”

I started to say coffee, but instead let out a sneeze.

“We’re out of that,” replied the girl, with sweetness in her voice.

“Please feel free to take your time and make another choice.”

That sneeze made my voice scratchy, my watery eyes turned red;

I tried to cough out “coffee”; she heard something else instead.

“Excuse me sir, but that was rude!” Her sweet voice turned to ice.

“There is no reason to be crude. Please order - and be nice!”

“Apologies,” I snorted back. My lungs began to wheeze.

Exasperation filled her voice - “You want our what with cheese?”

I tried again. “Just coffee.” I heard the intercom *crack*

“With lots of *crack* and *crack* please, I cannot drink it *crack*

“If *crack* is all please *crack* ahead to the second win*crack* sir.

It’s been our pleasure to *crack* you, of that you can be sure.”

I pulled away from the window, the cup warm in my hands,

And my thoughts began to migrate to that day’s lengthy plans.

I took a sip to jump start the defogging of my brains

And tasted coffee. Black. I guess when it pours it rains. 

Enjoy these dog days as best you can. Cleo and I are going to go lay down again.

***********************************************************************************************************************  

What tips can you give to get through the dog days of summer?

To leave a comment on our blog, you can use Disqus.  It is easy to sign up.  You can use Google, Facebook, Twitter or your email.  There is no cost.  Just put in your name and email address and create a password.  Then confirm your account with the email they send you.  Then you can use Disqus to comment on the blog.  We would love to hear your thoughts.