#1
Yellow dog, yellow dog,
I wonder what your mother was?
Harbor seal or armadillo?
Giant lemur? Beige gorilla?

Your ears are flower petals
But your coat is boar bristles.
You roll in the ice plant.
You roll in the thistles.

I call you Truckstop,
And sometimes Snootina.
You will never be mistaken
For a Viszla ballerina.

#2
Fat cat, you wear it well.
When you lie down it’s hard to tell,
But when you rise –Oh Christ! My eyes!
You do revert to porpoise-size.

Why does it all hang down so low?
To sweep the dust up as you go?
Does it protect, in case of battle?
Or win you love, like turkey’s wattle?

Though in your dreams you are a tiger,
When you wake up the dog’s still bigger.

#3
Pretty face, bunny eyes,
Your heart is full
Of enterprise.
Beneath the ottoman you plot
The overthrow of Brother Fat
And Sister Yawp.