Ridgeback Being and Time

Some time ago when I was

Feeling weak with a damaged

Arm and my Ridgeback

Girls were willful and strong

I thought about a time

When one of them would age

And be gone and I might . . .

I wasn’t sure what I might,

But thought small – a smaller

Ridgeback existence – learning

Small ones existed in Oregon.

I told my son who in a burst of

Essential sonness promised

To drive however far I wished.

Since then my girls have grown

More considerate and I have

Strengthened my arm and my son

Has lost his Jeep and now drives

An old Toyota with a weak battery

Or bad alternator or something else

Electrical and stays mostly at home.