TAILS IN THE DUNES

A sight to behold, the wagging tails,
 Moving back and forth, side to side.
Dusting the dune grass with every swish,
 Happy to roam in the grass by the sea.

The pack of them play and frolic with glee,
 Free of the leash, free to leave marks.
There's Uri and Tiffany, Lucky and Rocky,
 Dakota, Phoebe, Frosty and me.

Each morning we start our trek to the sea
 With leashes on, anxiety high,
They dart in and out and tangle the leashes,
 Excited like children, anxious like me.

Once past the brown  house the leashes are freed,
 The dune grass is kissed by their happy tails.
They know that the sand and sea lie ahead,
 And my soul knows we're all at home by the sea.

Each dog is special in it's love of the beach.
 The smallest, Dakota, seems larger than all,
Commanding the rest with a mighty bark,
 Herding them in to stay by my side.

The largest is Frosty, as big as a bear,
A Malamute true, enormous of heart. 
When a friend could not keep her,
I knew that her soul belonged by my side.

Phoebe in elegance cautiously treads
 At the edge of the surf, her coat shiny and black.
Uri, the husky, with eyes deep as the sea,
 Leaps in the waves, then back to my side.

Tiffany, regal, darts in and out,
 In waves white and blue, the same as her eyes.
A runner she is, but not quite as fast
 As Lucky, her love, a whippet most eager.

The last of the crew is Rocky, the Dingo.
 The grasses he loved, the sea he avoided.
His spirit  he willed to Lucky last year,
 But his soul is still with us, still faithful and eager.

My dogs fill my soul daily with peace 
 Our walks to the beach, a daily routine.
The wag of their tails, the perk of their ears
 Waiting each dawn for our trek to the sea.

I know that someday our souls will pass on,
 But each day at dawn our souls will still meet.
The tails in the dune grass and me by their side,
 We'll love and we'll frolic  - we belong to the sea.


Pamela  Pauley-Perreault
    ©1994