Apotheosis of the Dog

At first the dog seemed insignificant,
unlikely to amount to anything

with its appetite and small attention span.
While we worked it chewed through the bindings

of the Pulitzer winners on the bottom shelves.
But then we noticed it had ears like rose petals

and the dire eyes of a philosopher.
It had a certain something something.

It was warm like a muffin.
It seemed denser than other matter.

We came home and scraped up the poop
and moved the plays one shelf up.

Dawn Corrigan has published poems and prose in more than 80 print and online journals, including: 14 by 14, Dogzplot, Exquisite Corpse, The Hat, The Linnet’s Wings, Monkeybicycle, New England Review, Otis Nebula, The Paris Review, Pindeldyboz, Poetry, Unlikely Stories, and Wigleaf. She’s served as an editor at Girls with Insurance and Western Humanities Review. She works for the City of Pensacola Housing Office and lives in Gulf Breeze, Florida.