​[Inspired by Hughes Mearn's Antigonish]

Yesterday while in the park,
I met a dog who didn't bark.
He didn't bark again today;
And yet a lot he had to say.

For though his lips were standing still,
There was a tree he'd marked at will.
I cocked a leg and promptly peed
To leave no doubt that I could read.

This evening when I sniffed near home,
I caught a message in the loam
To check the trees along the walk
So he could have a little talk.
​ 
—Shortfellow (aka Lord Zakwoof of Glenwoof)

​Pillows of willows rolling in meadows,
Marking the course of a singular creek;
Blushing the landscape with plumes of sienna,
Prelude to springtime and greenery most chic.

Subtle the colors, as just now awakening,
Wispy the leaves on tentative stems;
Barely surpassing their spectral origins,
Buds sitting quietly like genies and gems.

Strangely low key is this vital transition,
Muted the scene in a year-long play;
Moment of poignancy vested with purpose,
On its way a season to sway.

This chinquapin with gold-backed leaves
May tantalize the gaze,
But spiny fruit that grow thereon 
With hazards will amaze.

Their spines when young the brave will dare
To lightly test with touch,
To brush a fuzzy-looking sphere,
To think it's not too much.

If flying hedgehogs lived indeed,
This bush would camouflage;
Provide a nest above the herd,
A safety net enlarge.

I keep a watchful canine eye
When passing just in case
A pygmy hedgehog drops to earth--
Oh, what a chance to chase!

—Shortfellow (aka Lord Zakwoof of Glenwoof)

​

~Regarding whether in marketing a proofreader might claim to “have proven”~

That proof is in the pudding
Is proven after oven;
But “oven” within “proven”
Is proved by simple vision.

So here we see that “proven”
Is participle likewise
To “proved” in sentence given;
No doubt a cause of sad sighs.

For often it is questioned
Why these two words should battle
To prove the most deserving
To serve as only participle.

It leaves us quite unsettled
When choosing “proved” or “proven”:
What rule “has proved” its truth yet,
Or what “has proven” certain.

Though use by country varies,
Feel safe with “proved” in general.
It ends in “d” deliberate,
“Default” the clue in total.

For adjective, no quandary;
It's “proven,” recent risen.
Remember “proved” is also
The simple past when bidden.

​

​The manzanitas of my dream
Surpass their wake-bound kin,
With leaves more green and stems that gleam
In burnt sienna sin.

Their branches, thickly glazed and smooth
Like honey-coated claws,
Show clear a path for snout and tooth
Advancing without pause.

And here no little apples hang
But massive fruit in reach.
Low-lying bounty, mighty fang?
No nightmare this, I preach.
​
--Shortfellow (aka Lord Zakwoof of Glenwoof)

​In a moment of evocative contemplation, our four-legged hero likened the joys of his gustatory experience to a “thing of beauty” as described by John Keats.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
—John Keats

A happy treat is no toy forever;
Its loveliness increases one's endeavor 
To stash it quick within the inner keep,
Intending then to list with welcome sleep,
And dream of chase and catch and breathless yelping.
—Shortfellow (aka Lord Zakwoof of Glenwoof)