From Things You Find in a Poet's Beard by A.F. Harrold

i.

Great grey belly porker,

toothy yawning slug,

cow-nosed submarine,

giant in the mud,

                         First, months

of flash, thud, shudder,

then the wailing...

                            Months,

that's half a young cat's life

A wolf once chanced upon a dog

outside the wild wood.

Cried Wolf, ‘And how are you today?’

Barked Dog, ‘Well, life is good:

There's a ...

jaw-snapper

teeth-gnasher

river-swimmer

dives-for-dinner

fish-catcher

back-scratcher

cave-seeker

winter-sleeper

At swimming once,
I went to turn from front to back
and just kept turning,
just kept turning,
turning over,
over and over,
till the swimming teacher said,

A free bird leaps 
on the back of the wind   
and floats downstream   
till the current ends 
and dips his wing 
in the orange sun rays 

In the Carribean
at the end of day
sun drops suddenly
like a fire ball
behind forested hills

Lying on the sofa
all curled and meek
but in my furry-fuzzy head
there's a rapping beat.
Gonna rap while I'm napping
and looking sweet

Dog in the playground:
Oh, no he don’t.
He’ll come with me,
You see if he won’t.

I feel it, first as a stir,
turning deep in the murky water.
Surfaces up for air, a twitch
on the lake in my head.
A flip, and it disappears.