Toying

As we worked backdropping the long fields of soy,
A dog, a beautiful black bitch
brought a red rubber bell toward our working field
she knew we could not stop to talk
but she talked to us
the knowing glances
seeing that our work was at a head
She would not yield
until we played briefly
during the mid morning breaks

Given the chance to discuss our options
we were confident she was no threat
but owners never suffer
the fools who tend their fields
i hid the bell in the crotch of a tree
low but not low
She complained and fretted
I did not think it ill will
but definitions shifted toward the crotch
until the lord graced her need

I knew a dog once that had her looks
A raven mutt, a trained voice that spoke
on command
this owner i knew as well, not fearful
when I saw that no one knew
the memory was made reality again
eyes drenched in a shaken low slung harness
not just another bitch
a distinct and distant dark crow, whose ending
I should hope to know