Darla Jean

This is a portrait of a stinky dog
who sighs and weighs 15 pounds
black as thunder, white as ribbons
(but in the sunlight, the black looks red).
She barks in our windowsill to let us know
that anything is happening and she is guarding
our farmstead, keeping the rats and thieves away.
She steals cheese from the kitchen. She once ate
half a stick of butter and then pooped it
somewhere. Memories like that fade when
so much has happened, so many games of
grody ball — “grody” because she stole
the ball, muddy and wet, mouthed by
who knows what other dog. So many times
she has jumped on my feet, tucked her head
under my thigh on the couch (also black and white)
that she was committed to eating for a while,
and still sneaks some stuffing from now and then.
She has the warmest eyes. The warmest, prettiest eyes.

From a prompt at NaPoWriMo.net.