PSYCHO

as I spend many hours each day
out walking dogs
I frequently run into people who have lost theirs

they walk up to me
or pull over in their cars
and they ask me, “hey, have you
seen my dog?”

many times
I have seen their dog
or I end up seeing their dogs
and I reunite them with their owners

but this one time
last Monday
while out walking dogs

an odd-looking man
with thin, graying hair
and thick glasses
pulled his truck
over to the side of the road

and he said to me, “excuse me,
have you seen my dog? He’s big and black
and looks very mean.”

I shook my head
told him that I hadn’t seen his dog
but that I’d keep an eye out

and as the man drove off
he shouted out his window
towards the woods
at the side of the road, “Psycho!! Hey, Psycho!!
come here, Psycho! come here, boy!”

I reeled in the dog I was walking
looked all around me
and said quietly, “well, buddy, it’s been fun,
all the time we’ve spent together
and just know, we’re not going out
without a fight.”