Jeanie Poem by Gert Strydom

With a brown snoot en golden-brown eyes,
my Labrador jumped into my heart
while waving her tail.

Her dark brown pelt glows
and it’s like something primitive wakens in her,
when Hadida birds land screaming on the lawn.

She inspects while I plant
rows of roses and in a short while,
she shears them off at the ground
and digs out the roots.

At work my phone rings
And the main waterline of the house,
has been gnawed off by her.

I am cross when I stop at the house
and usually she waits
and howls of gladness,
but when I get out of the car
she’s waiting at the garage
and sails on her stomach
to where I stand at the hole.

I take my financial mail,
and fold it tight
and know that I am going to hit her today.

But I see the pipe
that has been fixed by the plumber
and when I look up she gives her paw
and cries sadly as if to talk.