Somewhere east from here
-and her also
because we are mostly
in the same location-
a gun and a dog both start barking
at a moment that is too closely the same
as to make it possible
as regards deciding which noise
began beginning first.
The dog barked and got shot?
Or did the shooter
concentrating on another and separate business
cause the dog to start in
as a result of the sudden banging?
If we were to gamble on it
-she and I sat here
so very close as to be touching-
I would back the dog first
and then the bullet
about the precise destination of which
we could then agree to wager upon
quite separately
and one kiss at a time.
It’s gone quiet
and awfully hot
and there’s so little to do
here west of her
and it comes to me she’s a center
a pole by which measurements are made
when in fact her people
came to begin with from Bavaria
where the German Shepherds
also got their start.