Dog

I always thought that I was more a cat person

than a dog person.

Until this little Havanese bundle of joy

came into my life.

When I brought her home,

she weighed 2.5 pounds.

Now, at four, she weighs

about 14 pounds.

She's extravagant and exuberant

in love-giving.

She's extremely talkative

(she carries on growl conversations

with a toy in her mouth).

She flattens herself down

so she can lie under the leather ottoman.

She prefers to sleep

perched on a pile of pillows.

She's given up trying to chase the rabbits in the yard

because she knows they'll always outrun her.

She was clueless enough to try to chase a doe 

out of our yard (I had to intervene

because the doe was having none of it).

She sleeps on her back, 

paws outstretched,

confident that she's always safe and loved.

And she is.