jefferson hill and back in poetry

I walk a little blind dog
for about a block and a half
the one way then the same back
and he pisses just about
every five yards or so
he marks his territory

he doesn’t know that
the next rain-storm
will wash all that
accomplishment away
and now I must say
I’m a bit jealous
of his ignorance
and how it allows
him to keep hope

as a human I know
no matter how much
or how little I do
you cannot take
anything with you
nothing cares how
many points you scored
this life is not a sport
I will someday
die alone
you will too
same as everyone
the rain will wash
all our curbsides
away in the end
all that matters
is how much of
other people’s pain
you ameliorated while
you were alive and it
only matters to them
because by that point
you’re dead
and there’s no credible
evidence anything happens
after that lastlong fade
we can hope, of course
but we are evidence-based
unlike cute little dogs
the likeliest destination
is empty oblivion

what counts now
is all that counts
and I’m giving a
little blind dog
with bad legs
some dignity
and some peace
and those kinds of things
are all that will ever
have mattered at all
but still
this life convinces us otherwise
because believing otherwise helps
make us buy toothpaste and shampoo
makes us think we’re supposed to
own and accomplish Big Things
that don’t mean anything
to fill our bona-fides
and who knows
maybe some folks
are like my dog friend
ignorant enough to believe that
good for them, I suppose
they probably also go home
and lick their own assholes
like my canine friend as well
that just isn’t for me
for better or for worse

I walk a little blind dog
for about a block and a half
the one way then the same back
and he pisses just about
every five yards or so
he marks his territory
and he believes that it
means something
it doesn’t
but good for him
in his blindness
he feels accomplished

I just feel lonely
lonely and lost
but I’m here anyway
for now, some unknowable stretch of now
and I might as well do something good
even if there’s no tally
and no reward for it
it makes the dog happy
and it is at least
something