Ron Padgett

1942–

Dog

The New York streets look nude and stupid

With Ted and Edwin no longer here

To light them up with their particularity

Of loving them and with intelligence

In some large sense of the word:

New York’s lost some of its rough charm

And there’s just no getting around it

By pretending the rest of us can somehow make up for it

Or that future generations will. I hear

A dog barking in the street and it’s drizzling

At 6 A.M. and there’s nothing warm

Or lovable or necessary about it, it’s just

Some dog barking in some street somewhere.

I hate that dog.