Tired

On a tired old day

a tired old man

and his tired old dog

sought the shade

of a tired old tree

to escape the heat

from a tired old sun

that beat down on a tired old world.

The tired old man 

looked at the tired old dog and said,

"I'm worried about these problems of mine.

I don't know what to do."

The tired old dog did not say anything.

Then the tired old dog 

looked up at the tired old man 

and turned his tired old head slightly to the right 

as if he knew what the tired old man had said 

but was unsure as to why he had said it, 

as if he was thinking it all over very carefully, 

as if he knew this was very important 

and deserved a good answer.

The tired old dog had no answer.

"Perhaps if we sit here a little longer, 

something will come to me" 

said the tired old man.

The tired old dog looked at him as if to say,

"That seems reasonable to me."

They both thought about things for a while longer 

and watched the tired old world go by.

The tired old dog had no objection 

to more time in the shade of a tired old tree.

He sighed heavily and put his tired old head

on the cool grass under the tired old tree

and stretched out his tired old dog bones.

"Don't worry, I'll figure something out"

said the tired old man,

and he went back to thinking 

about his tired old problems

that were holding him down 

with the weight of this tired old world.

The tired old dog took a deep breath 

and sighed a long tired sigh 

and looked at the tired old man as if to say, 

"You'll think of something. You always do. 

Let me know when you've got an idea.

I'll be right here."

And the tired old dog took a nap,

because thats what you do 

in the shade of a tired old tree

to escape the heat 

from a tired old sun

on a tired old day

in this tired old world.

Ken Owen    Van Niddy Press   September 2013