Bri And His Dog, ...Fishbone ……part One & Part Two....[ Long; Boy & Dog; Changes; Growing Older ] Poem by Bri Edwards

Bri And His Dog, …Fishbone ……, Part One and Part Two
[ Long; Boy & Dog; Changes; Growing Older ]


PART ONE


This is the story of a 'pup' born 'ill-equipped',
or so its aging female owner soon had quipped....
after her mixed-breed bitch gave 6 pups birth.
[The pup's 'dad' was NOT known to have worth.]

Daisy, the pup's owner, drowned all save this one;
one male pup she had promised....to her grandson.
That boy, Brian, she thought ill-equipped as well.
For all she cared, Bri's alleged dad could rot in.....

Daisy's daughter, a single mom, was a kindly soul,
though Daisy told all her friends: 'That gal is 'slow'.'
For her, Rachel, there'd been no bridal veil or cape.
No! Bri was conceived through means of 'date rape'.

Daisy was a wealthy widow. Rachel & Bri lived with
her,
....in a huge old house from which 'D' rarely did stir. **
With large fenced grassy yards, in both front & back,
there was little, for a boy or a dog, that that house did lack.

Bri named his dog Fishbone, but just why I don't know,
They bonded very quickly and THEY sure weren't slow!
Around they ran, laughing & barking. Bri waved at folks,
& sometimes Bri told Fishbone some of his little-kid jokes.

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[[ Example of a 'Little-kid' Joke ]]


(Here is one PH poet Ruth Walters repeated to me recently) :


Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?

A. To get to the other side!


[[ Big laughs. Let's hear them, Readers. ;)))))) ]]


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To Bri's jokes, Fishbone usually did very little to respond,
but 'twas clear to onlookers that, of Bri, Fishbone was fond.
And, likewise, Bri was fond of his 'ill-equipped' new friend,
never thinking that their shared love & good times might end.

Three years old was Bri and three months old was 'his dog'.....
when they bonded, and for years, each, the other's time, did hog. ***
AND Daisy eventually admitted Fishbone had some worth,
and Rachel was pleased 'F' pleased the son to which she gave birth.

Two years along Bri was ready to begin school. It was time to start! !
The first 1/2-day of school Fishbone missed Bri 'with all of his heart'.
First 'F' searched the huge house & both yards, hoping to find 'him',
& not finding 'B' made 'F' think doggy-sized sad stories most grim. ****

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BRI'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: FISHBONE STAYS HOME

That afternoon Fishbone was overjoyed when Bri got home.
For the rest of the day, from Bri's side, 'F' did not once roam.
Bri, too, was glad to see his ‘friend' once again, but he'd ……
changed.
I mean Bri had changed; he'd met 'new kids' & Bri's life was
…. rearranged.

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CHANGES IN FISHBONE'S & BRI'S RELATIONSHIP

It wasn't TOO rearranged, that was true. That night 'F' still
shared Bri's bed.
BUT 'B' dreamed not of 'F' & Superman, but of school instead.
The next day when 'Mom' drove Bri to school, 'F' began to worry.
Bri patted Fishbone on his head but then rushed off 'in a hurry'! !

At first 'F' sat outside by the front yard's gate. The mail came,
but, even with a snack, the carrier's pat on 'F' 's head was not 'the ….
same'.
It wasn't the 'same' as a pat Fishbone loved from Bri's own hand.
It was ‘nice', but compared to a pat from 'B', the carrier's pat …..
was bland *****.

A ½ a day of school lasted only 3 hours, but, to 'F', it was like ….
'FOREVER'! !
Five days a week, for most of the summer, school lasted; Fishbone felt
it would NEVER ….end! !

But it ended. THEN after only 2 weeks Bri started in Kindergarten, for
FOUR hours each day! !
Bri looked forward to his school bus trip each morning and to 'nap time',
……AND to games 'K-kids' did play.
There were no dogs in school, but the teacher, Miss Crabtree, had a
caged bird!
She never succeeded, but one of Bri's classmates (a girl) tried to teach the
bird a 'bad word'.

After 'K', Bri went to school five days a week for much of each succeeding
year.
But there was no more 'summer school', something Fishbone was very glad
to 'hear'.
Yet, the hours 'F' spent with 'B' got fewer even on many of Bri's days
off from school.
Now 'B' had 'other things' to 'do', and 'no dogs allowed' was often then the ……
'rule'.

At times Fishbone spent time with Rachel or even Daisy at a nearby public
'Dog Park',
where, often, Fishbone could run around and play with other dogs, and even be
'allowed' to BARK! ! !
'F' still could lie at Bri's feet, under the dining table, at meals, and near 'B'
while Bri watched TV.
And Fishbone was always welcome to stand around amused, and watch
Bri climb a tree!

And so the days, months, & years passed, as both people and dog got
older.
'F' went to a 'vet'. 'D', 'R', & 'B' were treated for 'flu', a broken wrist,
& a dislocated shoulder.


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TO BE CONTINUED, , , , , , (if ANYONE shows an interest)
=======================================

(February 2024)

Bri Edwards aka brian Edward Whitaker …….
……in 'The Real World' & 'The Unreal World' as well. ;)
==================================================

SOME DEFINITIONS of words used in PART ONE:


** STIR: (as a verb)
'to move to another location' [There are
numerous other definitions of 'stir'; most are verbs & one is a noun]


*** HOG: (as a verb)
'take more than one's share of' [again, this is only one
of numerous definitions, including at least one noun]


**** GRIM /grĭm/
Adjective
1. 'Discouraging or depressing'


***** BLAND:
adjective
Bri's chosen definition: 'not stimulating or invigorating'
[ example: 'Kim Barney's poems are bland.' :))))) ]

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TO BE CONTINUED (IF anyone shows an interest)

[[ Bharati Nayak has shown "AN INTEREST", soooo.…
I NOW continue. ]]

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PART TWO

Fishbone's visits to a veterinarian, Nona by name (a gal) , were pretty routine
.............until he was 4 years old and weighed 80 pounds & he ran into a ‘cat', one very MEAN!
I mean the cat (a wild mountain lion) was for some reason feeling like a fight.
A fight indeed ensued with Fishbone, who used his muscles with ALL of his might.

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[ special note regarding 'mountain lions' ]:

[[ Bri's Note on the weight of an adult ‘mountain lion' aka "puma" (known by
many other names) : Fishbone would be slightly lighter in weight than a
small female adult, and a LOT lighter than any adult male puma. ]] : (
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following his emergency treatment by Nona [ including stitches and a blood transfusion ]
Fishbone recovered ‘completely' …….though at first (about his chances for survival) there had been ‘some confusion'.
During that ‘uncertain time' for "B", "D", and "R", there were tears & a few prayers, ending with ……JOY! !
For several days afterward(s) , "B" was especially glad to have "F", and "F" was especially glad to have his "boy".

In a few more years Bri entered "High School", the last 3 or 4 years of schooling most
American boys & girls complete.
Bri became a star second baseman on his Salt Lake High School team. For a boy once called "ill-equipped", it was quite a feat!
He also ‘learned' to appreciate "the fairer sex" [aka females], and took Samantha Dee
to the "Senior Ball".
And he learned he'd been accepted to attend college at Stanford University...
in the fall.

"Changes" did not make Fishbone happy, though I have some serious doubt "F" understood what was coming.
He knew one day the mail carrier brought an envelope which Bri tore open, and caused Bri to start humming.
That same day, at supper, "B", "D", & "R" all seemed excited about ‘the envelope',
but Fishbone felt somehow "left out".
If Fishbone had been a human being with human facial expressions, one might say that "F" did pout **.

Yes, LOTS OF CHANGES seemed to be happening, and Fishbone had seen
his share in his 17 years on Earth!
Now "F" was an "old dog", and I THINK he sensed that his life was near its end,
not at its start, as it had been at his birth.
Brian, too, had been through lots of "changes" since he first set eyes on the
little "ball of fur" Fishbone once had been! !
As "B" knew his last days with his faithful pet were ‘fast-approaching", he
wondered: "will leaving ‘F' now be a ‘sin'? ? "
Bri spoke to his Mom, his Grandma, his priest, his girlfriend, and his best male
friend, Al.
Most agreed that, like a sailboat, Bri's life had both ‘times to anchor' and ‘times
to sail'.

He shed some tears for this time to "move on from home", to concentrate on
his future life.
He'd weigh anchor and move to college at Stanford, to a degree (or 2 or 3) , to a job
&, with luck, a career and perhaps kids and a wife!
Someday maybe he'd have another dog [maybe 2]. At times he'd wished HE'd
had a sibling ***.
Or maybe a better choice for his next pet would be a hamster or a small turtle,
which, from Bri's fingertips, "B's" next pet could be nibbling!

Perhaps he'd name a future pet "Fishbone", and he'd think of his beloved first pet,
and be very THANKFUL …..
for the years they had together. Why not have MANY "Fishbones", a school of tiny fish, ....a TANK FULL?

YES! ! !



Hic Finis Est: The End of PART TWO & The Beginning of the REST of Bri's life! ! !

I hope my readers have enjoyed this story. :) bri

(February 13th,2024)


Some DEFINITIONS for words in PART TWO:

** POUT: [ Bri Edwards' chosen definition ]:
"A protrusion of the lips, especially as an expression of sullen discontent."


*** SIBLING:
"a brother or a sister"


(February 2024)

Bri Edwards aka brian Edward Whitaker …….
……in "The Real World" & "The Unreal World" as well. ;)
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