Sunday and a Dog

a poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The scrawny dog,
tail hanging low,
dumped in a strange town days ago,
so lonely that it looks into a puddle
seeking comfort in its own image.
A car comes rolling by,
the dog jumps clear,
but get splattered by dirty water;
shakes itself looks up at tall buildings not a friendly face,
no one calls its name.
The dog finds an alleyway
where other abandoned dogs have formed a pack,
laying claim to waste-bins nearby,
humbly tries to make friends,
but they chase away this small, weak dog
that has another smell.
Back on the main road,
looking into another puddle,
it doesn’t hear the other car!
bloodied fur on damp asphalt so utterly insignificant,
lies there till Monday morning
when it’s thrown into the rumbling belly
of a sanitation truck.