Co-Evolution

a love poem to canis familiaris

by Lisa Fields

I wonder if you sensed

the consequence

agreeing to be domesticated

in your eyes,

a spark of wildfire

the tale

of our co-evolution

devotion to you is easy

despite my struggle with your language

you have become hard wired

through these 10,000 years

to read human emotions

the haze of dancing molecules

encircling me

unseen by other humans

at times

overwhelms you

I see it in the rapid lift of your eyebrows

the quick shifting of the whites of your eyes

wisdom leads you to rest

unless I fail you

and push with primate

obtuseness

I can only look at the places

you bound to

effortlessly,

never ridiculing my awkward form

how slow I am in learning

to understand you

in this cumbersome awareness

I find gladness

in honoring your primal need

the deer leg in the yard,

tearing of rabbit flesh

the deep quiet of your rest

satin chin on my leg

the awe of your

constancy

* * * * *

Lisa Fields is a contract agricultural journalist for Professor Quirine Ketterings, and occasionally others at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.