Weather Eye
We're traipsing,
dog and human,
round the park lake,
alert for raindrops and
the darkening drift
of rainclouds.
Everyone else,
dogs and humans,
are in raincoats,
some with umbrellas
pessimistically
at the ready.
My neighbour's
Jack Russell, Buddy,
assertive, puny,
looks such a wimp
in his hoodie -
which reads
along the spine:
I'm tougher
than I look.
If there were dog-
umbrellas, Buddy
would be toting one.
We're not tough,
in the shadowing
first shower,
trotting home now,
leashed together,
at a fast clip,
one of us
soon breathless,
for late breakfast.
From the chilly
rain-spotted balcony
we can see
Monterey pines
flinching; beyond,
with the mind's eye,
see the park lake
in such weather
getting wetter and Wetter.
Max Richards
Rufffey Lake Park yet again
Doncaster, Vic.
