“I don’t believe that this is a vicious dog from what she tells me,” Durfee said. “I believe the police are overreacting.”

I’ve been asked to read at The Dog Ears Bookstore

But I keep wanting to place an apostrophe

between the r and s of ears.  But when I think

about the dog ears being

in possession of the bookstore

it makes me more curious

as to why the ears

and not its teeth and paws. 

To make matters worse,

I cannot even imagine teeth and paws

because I don’t imagine the ears

themselves have any body,

or even limitation

that would require a body.  Finally,

if there are dog ears

in possession of a bookstore,

what is their relationship? 

Are they siblings,

a parent and child,

two lovers drawn toward the same sound? 

I prefer to think of them

as two children

climbing toward a point of intersection

the sun at their backs,

others throwing stones,

and the sounds

of branches receding

underneath their tentative weight.