A staccato bark
and a small boy's laughter
danced through my flowers.
Long months after
the laugh was stilled,
the collie would wait
with hopeful eyes
at my garden gate.
When a careless gun
rang the dog's death-chime,
the small boy died a second time.
That night through star-blossoms in the sky
danced a collie's bark and a boy's glad cry.
