Schubert and Me

My neighbor, Pete,

adopted a dog

and named him Schubert,

although he claimed

to dislike classical music,

preferring bluegrass

and trips to roadhouses

at the edge of the Everglades

where the bartender

could summon a taxi

when he’d had too much to drink.

You’d never mistake Schubert’s

high-pitched barking for music,

or his short bristly coat

for the composer’s ill-combed hair.

Still, I developed a fondness

for the dog, despite his habit

of licking my face right after he ate,

and wandering unattended on my lawn.

One morning, I found Schubert

asleep at my front door

and offered Pete a dollar

to take him off his hands,

and to my surprise, he said yes.

Now Schubert and I

roam the neighborhood together

I whistle the tune from Erlkönig

and he barks at the squawking

green parrots, refugees

from the last hurricane,

who make their homes

in the palm trees and rooftops,

not minding either of us

claiming the ground as our own.

Michael Minassian is a Contributing Editor for Verse-Virtual. His poetry collections Time is Not a River, Morning Calm, and A Matter of Timing are all available on Amazon. A new chapbook, Jack Pays a Visit, is due Spring 2022. For more information: https://michaelminassian.com.