Rufus & I
[A thought-form that came from seeing a picture of a man and his dog sitting together in the front seat of the man's car.]

"Where we going next," Rufus asked.
"We're just cruisin' for a while,
what do you say?"
"Oh, you know how I hate
'just cruisin'.' Can't we go
to a beach or a park at least,
maybe find some pretty girls?"
"What in hell do you want
with pretty girls?"
"Dude, you know how
I love to flirt. I _have_
to flirt for Christ's sake."
"OK, fine, we'll go to a park.
I swear, I do more for you than
I did for my ex-wife."
"Well, I should hope so.
God forbid you ever wasted
a minute on that terrible person.
And what's so bad about a park?"
"Well, it's just kind of,
I don't know, lonely by myself."
"By yourself? What am I,
chopped liver?"
"No, you're right.
I'm being a curmudgeon."
Off we went to a park.
As I let Rufus out and
put on his leash, he spotted
a table full of young ladies
out for a picnic.
"Just remember," he remarked,
"when I flirt it's
for the good of both of us."
I'm not sure if anything will
ever come of it, but summers
I take to cruising with Rufus,
that dirty dog.

(2008)