The Dogs Will Not Come
A poem about absent environmental leadership. "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." ~ Josh Billings aka Henry Wheeler Shaw. 19th Century American humorist and lecturer.
By Caroline JanePublished 2 years ago • Updated 2 years ago • 1 min read
Photo by Rachel McDermott on Unsplash
Tears of spilt milk and salt
fill whispering pools. Wrung-out clouds,
licked at by mealy mouths
of dogless sheep.
//
A whistle circles as a hawk
piercing peachy skies, alive
with a hung and urgent
silence.
//
The milksop spreads
drowning banked shores in reflection.
The footloose sheep wade
without ripple.
//
Silted, they bleet out
hollow echoes of leached sentiment
and dip down
to de-louse.
//
The hawk flies away.
The dogs will not come.
About the Creator
Caroline Jane
CJ lost the plot a long time ago. Now, she writes to explore where all paths lead, collecting crumbs of perspective as her pen travels. One day, she may have enough for a cake, which will, no doubt, be fruity.

Comments (16)
Brilliant! A lot to dissect here!
Now THAT...is some Nature poetry 😍 My favourite line: "...they bleet out hollow echoes of leached sentiment." Mastery that.
Think I need a minute to soak it all in. Masterfully composed, lyrically told, and lovingly stated. Will read and reread til I know it has taken root.
Very nice, Caroline!
Explosively dynamic and intentional use of vocabulary and allegory. I want to say more, but a true work of art is better felt than explained, so I'll stop here.
The footloose sheep wade… my favorite line
But that was so sad yet so beautifully written! My favourite line was "The milksop spreads drowning banked shores in reflection."
Excellent words and no doubt another Top Story
Very well written -- and deep!
Wow! BRILLIANT!! ❤️
I think the dogs have turned into to cats. They only use us for their own gain.
Cj ~ You always seem to cook-up a laugh as from a 'hyena' from me...Thanks, as always, 'Lefty' Jk
Brilliant. And somewhat vitriolic.
Magnificent piece with intense depth!
Beautiful. But sad. Just...yeah.
Exquisitely written!!! ♥️♥️💕