Jane Blanchard

Pooch,

I love you lots
as you well know,
but Boss has said
it’s time to show.

You must behave
as best you can
while I’m away
a half-day’s span.

The Roomba zooms,
the t.v.’s on,
so do chill out
the hours I’m gone.

I’d rather not
come home to find
a mess from stress,
the canine kind.

A native Virginian, Jane Blanchard lives and writes in Georgia. Her collections include After Before (2019), In or Out of Season (2020), Never Enough Already (2021), and Sooner or Later (2022).