Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Mother Doesn't Want a Dog

Mother Doesn't Want a Dog

by Judith Viorst

Mother doesn't want a dog.
Mother says they smell,
And never sit when you say sit,
Or even when you yell.
And when you come home late at night
And there is ice and snow,
You have to go back out because
The dumb dog has to go.
 
Mother doesn't want a dog.
Mother says they shed,
And always let the strangers in
And bark at friends instead,
And do disgraceful things on rugs,
And track mud on the floor,
And flop upon your bed at night
And snore their doggy snore.
 
Mother doesn't want a dog.
She's making a mistake.
Because, more than a dog, I think

She will not want this snake.

My 11 year old son brought this home and it has been on our refrigerator waiting for me to use it for just this purpose.  Simple and shallow in content it made me howl when I read it.  By the way, we have a dog and the mother in the poem is right on with her perceptions

 

Professor Michelle Colleran Cook, MS, RN
MassBay Community College
19 Flag Drive
Framingham, Massachusetts 01702
mcook@massbay.edu
Phone 508-270-4260

Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases. -John Adams