Surprise? Poem by B. V. Dahlen

A dirty old mutt came meandering by
With four muddy legs and one baleful black eye.
He strode as if saying, “Now don’t mess with me.”
“I’m casing this block and I marking each tree.”

The neighborhood dogs all retired and hid
As he sniffed and inspected each battered can lid,
And seemed to judge each of them not to his pleasure
Though most other dogs would have found hidden treasure

In each smelly can, but our mongrel moved on
Til a bin in one alley he seemed to be drawn,
But resting quite peacefully there on that can
Was a rusty old tomcat the butcher’d named Dan.

Dan raised one sleepy eyelid and closed it again.
By no swish of his tail or twitched whisker did deign
To acknowledge the course of this motley canine.
He was still... quite relaxed, and gave no sort of sign

That the dog was unwelcome in his private lair.
If you observed closely you’d notice the hair
On the ridge of his back started rising a mite
But this dog kept on coming to Dan’s great delight,

And just as he dared to start sniffing the bin
From out of nowhere and to his chagrin
Five razor sharp claws slashed his nose to the bone
And quickly the bully withdrew with a groan

Dan presently rejoined his nap with a sigh
While the other dogs snickered at that mournful cry.
On his trash can lid throne sat the neighborhood king
As he waited to see what tomorrow might bring.