hassle puppy

December 18, 2025

/ HJ / Leave a comment

this puppy
is so damn cute
i cannot handle it
i cannot handle it

playing with the squeaker of a long-gone toy
placing it gently in my hand
and nudging it forward
for me to throw

and the utter delight as she scrambles
on all of her feeties
trying to catch the squeaker as it bounces
unevenly
across the floor

or the container from yesterday’s dog ice cream
handing it off to me
in order to play tug
or just lick it some more
getting the last little bits of flavor
out from the waxed cardboard

or just laying on the ground
and looking up at me
with her giant, beautiful, trusting, dark-rimmed
puppy dog eyes
and white eyebrows
[evolutionarily placed there
just so her species
could mimic mine]
and i don’t always know what she’s thinking
but i know she’s trying to communicate with me
with little
stomps of her feet
or half-breathy boofs
or a hesitant wag of her tail
or just a side-look
and my heart melts
and i am putty for her
because she is putty for me
and we collapse into each other
enjoying being
puppy and human
and not too dissimilar
for a moment
in time

December 16, 2025

/ HJ / Leave a comment

the puppy is so whine-y
and hassle-y
and i think she just wants
to play with me
or have me
play with her
but i never know exactly what she wants
attention?
scritches?
a throwing of the ball?
to just have us not be staring at a screen?
[i mean, i’m writing this whole poem
with my eyes only on her
checking in every now and then
to make sure i’ve hit
the right button on my keyboard,
but she’s still whining
still hassling
still being
a silly little
waggity-tailed
puppy
with her gorgeous brown eyes
gazing up at me
and her little puppy barks
melting
my damn heart]

November 23, 2025

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i wish we had more windows in our house
that were accessible to the animals as they are
so they could gaze out
at the outside world
and be entertained
from the comfort and safety of our own home

[but the cat has the upstairs window
accessible from a hop onto a litter box
and a jump onto a dresser
and, of course, a skip through the curtains]
[and the dog has the downstairs window
accessible from the couch she probably shouldn’t jump on
or the other downstairs window
accessible from a lap
she definitely shouldn’t jump on]
[so i suppose all can be/is well]

November 18, 2025

/ HJ / Leave a comment

what a nightmare
of a night
what with screaming cats
and whining puppies
and keeping us up all night
[especially when we were both so excited
to go to sleep so early
and sleep in just a bit]
but
but
but
however
i’d rather have these animals
and have them interrupt our sleeps
with their hassles
than not have them at all
and that’s the truth

[damn, love is crazy]

October 6, 2025

/ HJ / Leave a comment

the puppy
croodling up next to her brand new toy —
a highland cow
with five squeakers
and a witch hat

and a vibe of playing
i’ve never seen her do
with any
other
toy

is it love?

is it play-acting her hunting instincts?

do we care that much?

no —

we just like to see her
happy

July 26, 2025

/ HJ / Leave a comment

that was
the greatest part of my morning

the greatest morning

a cat on my lap
enjoying the scritches
from my left hand

and a puppy at my feet
leaning into me
enjoying the scritches from my
right hand

and though i got no writing done
and it only lasted about ten minutes

i was in a blissful heaven
the whole time

February 14, 2025

/ HJ / Leave a comment

our dog has become
the neediest little puppy
in this, her third year

and perhaps it is simply because
she is not doctor-ordered to
not
follow us upstairs
and jump in beds
and leap on laps

or perhaps she has gotten used to us
and what we will allow
and what we
won’t

but my goodness
the amount of barks for playtime
and dances for attention
and literal time spent in my lap
[yes, this 45-pound dog
sits in my lap
while i sit
on a dining room chair]
has most definitely increased
within this past
year

December 13, 2023

/ HJ / Leave a comment

i’m not ready
for the slew of wrap-ups
the posts and the culminations
the retrospectives of what this year has been
to so many many people…
it all just seems so false
so farcical
so individually selfish to
look back a year of billions of people
and only think about you
your loss
your gain
your sorrow
your joy

i want perspective
[which i’m sure some will find]
[maybe even most of the folks whose stuff
i’m likely to see]

[or maybe
i’m being unkind
maybe
i need to take a second to rewind —
we all only know what we individually think
and it is the masses of individuals
that make the community we seek;
so why not look back
and share
with those we think of as
our people
our comrades
our neighbors and our folks?]

[still, i can’t help but think
about how shitty a year this has been
and how much and how little has happened
and how, in the grand scheme of things,
even with my utter sorrow and grief,
i still have it better than so so so so so many people
and i can’t stop thinking
about genocide
of people
of the earth
and feel so damn
helpless
hopeless
over here]

~~~

at least there is a little puppy
playing with her little chew-toy
of a collection of mushrooms on a log
and, wait, she is having too much fun,
i check behind me, and she has instead a rainbow sweater in her jaws

i tell her to stop

she immediately drops
and looks at me
with her adorable puppy-dog eyes
and wags her tail
because — though i said no and was stern — i’m paying attention to her now
and that’s all she really wants
attention
love
and care
and i can give her those things
no problem, no problem there.

~~~

only two poems
and already over the word-goal

it’s almost like i really had some things to say
today

June 5, 2022

/ HJ / Leave a comment

we’ve repurposed a large tupperware container
into where we put all the pieces of paper
and threads of former toys
computer has ripped through
with her sharp puppy teeth
and we call it her art collection
and i love it

we also have
two of her puppy teeth,
molars that fell
outside
rather than down the throat,
and we’re thinking of putting them
in her art jar as well
because she did make them
and they are
art

~~~

the puppy has learned
that the top of the soft crate
can help her see
over the room-fence-divider,
and also
can keep her cool
on hot summer days

(now to see how long
the zippered canvas
will hold her weight
as she grows…)

~~~

Louka
was cat-like
in the way that she was
not very dog-like

Computer
is very cat-like
in many mannerisms
and play-approaches
and active qualities

(the passive
and the active
cat-like qualities)

(meanwhile our cat
is more monkey
than any other creature,
so…)