Days Like This by Sam Calhoun

How thankful I am

for a field notebook,

the open sky,

and the little dog lapping

at my heels,

seeds of wild things clinging

to her black cocker spaniel coat,

waiting to be born again elsewhere

in the spring rains,

the pines lost in their spiral daze searching

for light just now arriving,

the water rippling across the lake

from life that saw us first.

And how, this morning

I look to her and ask

"Where to next"?

her eyes saying "Any old trail!"

---

“I wrote this poem maybe after reading too much Mary Oliver not that that's a bad thing, and always felt it was a bit too syrupy to put out into the world. My love letter to my beloved companion, Lulu, the Dog Wonder.”

Sam Calhoun is a writer and photographer living in Elkmont, AL. He is the author of one chapbook, “Follow This Creek” (Foothills Publishing). His poems have appeared in Pregnant Moon Review, Westward Quarterly, Offerings, Waterways, and other journals. Follow him on Twitter or Instagram @weatherman_sam