I watched your owner lead you down the rocks
Skidding the soles of his shoes
To ensure you didn’t drop into the water
I was too far away to see his face
But your eagerness beget fear in me
Did you know you could handle a dip?
Were you unaware of the wet’s grip?
The path you both walked across the water
Narrow strip of nothing between you and he and inevitable
And there he was staying the straight and narrow
Except to pull you away from the edge every ten paces or so
Until you reached the end of the path.
I looked away to write this down
But when I looked up you were gone
I thought frantic that you had fallen over
Or worse that you were my imagination’s figment all along.
But no, there you were, a tiny pair of dots perpendicular
Safely on the other side
Your journey across the shortcut worth the slips and scary twists
Worth the chance of losing it all.
The Birds and the Fleas 