Hug a poet or, even better, buy a book of poetry

So I missed the boat with Women's History Month. I think I squeaked in an acknowledgment of African American History Month. But by golly, I'm an English professor so I'm going to TRY MY BEST to get you a poem a week (for hopefully four total) during National Poetry Month.

Today's featured poet is Gary Soto (click here for his official website). Although I like Mr. Soto's poetry, it's actually a short autobiographical essay that he wrote, "Like Mexicans," that is my favorite piece of writing by him. It's about how he met and fell in love with his wife, Carolyn, a Japanese American woman, and it's about marrying and, more importantly, loving across the racial/ethnic/cultural divide.

[To find a copy of this essay, may I recommend the excellent collection of California literature, Highway 99: A Literary Journey through Califorina's Great Central Valley -- Soto, along with other fine California writers -- is featured in this collection, which is published by Heyday Books.]

So in honor of National Poetry Month, I bring you "Nelson, My Dog" by Gary Soto--because I am a dog lover (and dog owner) and much of what Soto describes about dogs feels very true to me.

Nelson, My Dog
by Gary Soto

Like the cat he scratches the flea camping in fur.
Unlike the cat he delights in water up to his ears.
He frolics. He catches a crooked stick –
On his back he naps with legs straight up in the air.
Nelson shudders awake. He responds to love
From head to tail. In happiness
His front legs march in place
And his back legs spark when they push off.
On a leash he knows his geography.
For your sake he looks both ways before crossing,
He sniffs at the sight of a poodle trimmed like a hedge,
And he trots the street with you second in command.
In the park, he ponders a squirrel attached to a tree
And he shovels a paper cup on his nose.
He sweeps after himself with his tail,
And there is no hand that doesn't deserve a lick.
Note this now, my friends:
Nelson can account the heritage of heroic dogs:
One, canines lead the blind,
Two, they enter fire to rescue the child and the child's toy,
Three, they swim for the drowning,
Four, they spring at the thief,
Five, they paddle ponds for the ball that got away,
Six, for the elderly they walk side by side to the very end,
Seven, they search for bones but stop when called,
Eight, they bring mud to all parties,
Nine, they poke among the ruins of a burnt house,
Ten, they forgive what you dish out on a plate.

Nelson is a companion, this much we know,
And if he were a movie star, he would do his own stunts –
O, how he would fly, climb the pant legs of a scoundrel
And stand tall rafting on white-water rivers!
He has befriended the kingdom of animals:
He once ran with wolves but admittedly not very far,
He stepped two paces into a cave and peeked at the bear,
He sheltered a kitten,
He righted the turtle pedaling its stumps on its back,
Under the wheeling stars he caravanned with the mule,
He steered sheep over a hill,
He wisely let the skunk pass,
He growled at the long-bearded miser,
He joined ducks quacking with laughter,
Once he leaped at a pheasant but later whined from guilt.

Nelson's black nose is a compass in the wilds.
He knows nature. He has spied spires of summer smoke,
He circled cold campfires,
He howled at a gopher and scratched at the moon,
He doctored his wounds with his tongue,
He has pawed a star of blood left in snow.
He regards the fireplace, the embers like blinking cats,
This too we know about Nelson.
True, he is sometimes tied to parking meters
And sometimes wears the cone of shame from the vet's office.
But again, he is happiness.
He presents his belly for a friendly scratch.
If you call him, he will drop his tennis ball,
Look up, and come running,
This muddy friend for life. When you bring your nose
To his nose for something like a kiss,
You can find yourself in his eyes.

[Taken from Poets.org, where you can sign up for a poem a day to be delivered to your email account.]