BinGo

SwishSwishSwish.

Bingo’s tail swings like a metronome

Keeping time with the steady beating of your heart

Or not.

More like the rapid firing of strobe lights

Disorienting.

You pat his head and set out his dinner,

You sit on the couch to watch television

“No, Bingo! You can’t sit with me!”

Swish Swish Swish.

Goes the frisbee you throw to Bingo in your backyard

Bingo is too preoccupied by digging a catacomb in your rose bushes

“Stupid dog, they’ll never bloom again!”

You don’t know that he is digging up a time capsule

Your great grandmother buried when she was a child

Swish. Swish.

Goes Bingo’s furious legs while you are trying to keep up with him on his morning walk.

Or every other morning.

Or weekly.

Or whenever you feel like it.

He stops so you can breathe and gives you a kiss on the cheek.

You cringe as the slobber drips down your face.

“I have to go to work now.”

Swish. Swish.

Goes two car doors slamming while you leave for your honeymoon.

She’s a cat person.

Swish.

Goes the front door finally releasing Bingo to freedom

The iron bars disintegrating into the warm light of the welcoming world.

The years of solemn solitude finally behind him.

SwishSwishSwish.

Goes Bingo’s legs as he’s racing to the light.

Starvation, predators, heat not an issue for him.

He is smart enough to make it.

To where?

Anywhere but.

.

Goes your heart when you come home from your honeymoon.

Your throat catches and all you can udder is silence.