The Time Will Come

it occurs to me

as I step into my shorts

to take my sweet pit

out for her 3 am ‘business’

and then carefulyl hold

onto the corner of the glass

front china cabinet

to slip my shoes on

someday it will not

be safe to stand

and step into

my pants, sometimes even now

I almost fall

Which is why I steady

against the cabinet

so I will have to sit

and maybe have some shoes

that are easier to slip on

and by then, maybe our lovely dog

will be long dead, which makes me think,

when she dies,

will I bury her in the yard,

as I have done with every other dog,

I have had since 1964?

Will I be able to dig the hole?

I can hear my wife saying

I am too morbid for words,

but these are my words, my thoughts,

and it occurs to me,

even if I sit so I don’t fall

through the glass,

and even if I don’t get another dog,

or get one who doesn’t need

a midnight walk,

someday I will no longer

need to worry about dogs

and shoes and glass

and digging holes.