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Joshua L. A. Jones
Fairfield, CT 06824

Each quatrain equals an illustrated page

Red Dog Rouge

Merril, the dog, had wanted to be a mother for years

She thought it might not happen, it was her greatest fear

Then one morning she knew, she would be a mother soon

So she started to make a cozy den in the downstairs room

The happy event began on the first day of the week in May

Seven tiny puppies were delivered on the warmest of days

All the puppies were born with their little fragile eyes closed

They looked the same and most of the afternoon they dozed

In some week’s time, their pure eyes slowly opened

Some of their coats grew lighter and some deepened

Some of them grew faster and some of them would explore

Some of them were agile and some would slip on the floor

Merril loved all of her puppies as much as anyone could

She treated them as equals as any good mother would

But life can be unjust and unfair just as a cow will moo

And one puppy knows this too true, she is Red Dog Rouge
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She was born last to the world after the others had come

She was not the smallest and she was not the biggest one

Red Dog Rouge’s fur was the color of the autumn skies

Her paws were stone gray and had blue-green eyes

Her brothers and sisters fur was a mix of white and black

And when they went to mother for food she had to stand back

She would push and pull to try to get a filling drink

She worked much harder than a puppy should I think

All of the puppies grew up to be healthy, frisky and large

But no matter how fussy they got Merril was always in charge

The puppies loved to frolic and play in the backyard

Red Dog Rouge tried to join in but it was always hard

All of her siblings would bark and run away and leave her behind

So she learned to have fun alone and played with what she could find

When they went to sleep Red Dog Rouge curled up at her mother’s head

The others would lie at their mother’s back on the flannel bed

Red Dog Rouge liked to play alone but the people petted her the most

They would give her extra treats of bones, meat and gravy on toast

Red Dog Rouge learned easily to sit, lie down, speak, and stay

Her siblings did not listen to the people and liked to run away
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The people loved Red Dog Rouge especially the one smelling of flowers

She would scratch her tummy, tail and ears what seemed like for hours

Red Dog Rouge brothers and sisters would come running

To stop the attention and the petting Red Dog Rouge was getting

They would bark loudly and jump to get the woman’s affections

They pushed Red Dog Rouge and pulled in the other direction

Then one cloudy day more people came to the backyard pen

They all were strangers some left and then came back again

One after another Red Dog Rouge’s brothers and sisters were taken

And as soon as the strangers came they left and the cloud had broken

The sun came out and Red Dog Rouge found they were the only three

Four puppies were given to families and would love them completely

Red Dog Rouge was scared that she would have to leave her mother

So she would go and hide so she would not leave with the others

She was afraid of the people she did not know from familiar smell

She did not even like to play with people she did not know that well

There was a small hole between the pen’s wall and the soft ground

It was the only big enough exit for her to squeeze through she found

There was an opening in between the fence and the tall bushes

Red Dog Rouge rapidly ran to the yard’s big blooming hedges
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She squeezed her small body through the smaller space

She pulled and pushed so hard she even scratched her face

She forced herself to freedom and ran down the winding street

She was unaware of all the new animals that she would meet

Red Dog Rouge ran past the roaring cars and the giant buildings

She was coming up to the calm place where she could start hiding

It was a long broad alley which walls reached to the white clouds

There were some animals screeching and she never heard these sounds

Fluffy pointed ear creatures came closer with their back fur all raised

Some made hissing sounds, so she thought it was a signal to play

With one sharp swipe Red Dog Rouge ran away bleeding

The strange fluffy animals had no plan for her playing

Red Dog Rouge ran to the next large, hopefully empty, alley

This one was much wider and looked like mountains and a valley

She came across smaller gray animals with long, skinny, thin tails

They squeaked and scurried about and smelled as the garbage pails

Red Dog Rouge felt a low growl in her tummy and wanted some food

There were no bowls around and simply did not know what to do

She had never been alone for so long and did not like her tummy’s pain

and then the black clouds rolled in with the wind and it started to rain
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She did not like to be wet and looked all around for shelter

There was a brown box she ran into at the farthest corner

Red Dog Rouge waited but the rain did not seem to stop

She did not ever like the rain, not even a single drop

Then she saw a big man in a gray-white coat slowly come up to her

He had a long rope and walked up close and she let out a little “gurr”

He put the rope around her neck and gently pulled her to a truck

He placed her in a cage and she knew she was now out of luck

The big man in white took her to a big brown noisy kennel

There were many dogs cramped in small pens that were dismal

It was a scary place with scary people and the dogs were always barking

But she got food an water and dried by a towel because she was soaking

She sat in the lonely cage for hours and then for long, lonelier days

She goes outside sometimes but the people would never play

Then one sunny day she was awoken and there was a smell she knew

It was her mother’s bark and the flower woman came walking too

Red Dog Rouge was filled with joy and she was finally free

They went in the big red car and she sat at the window to see

She put her paws on the clear glass and panted gleefully

And then she turned to her mother and licked her lovingly
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Red Dog Rouge barked happily as she went inside her home

She pranced into see her siblings but she was almost alone

The people and her mother Merril were all that was there

Her siblings had all gone and she did not know where

The people gave her a new bed and her own new yellow bowl

And there were two new collars and leashes hanging on the pole

Red Dog Rouge was sad that her brothers and sisters were gone

But then a few days later she saw her two brothers walk along

They were with happy looking people with smiles on their faces

Red Dog Rouge then was happy that her brothers were really safe

They had found new homes for all the puppies but Rouge

She was then wondering if she would go as well soon

Then Red Dog Rouge saw all of her colorful new things

And all of the happiness that her coming home did bring

She then knew she was chosen specially to be the people’s new pet

It was because she was different and not like the others she had met

She was beautiful and she was smart and loved everyone around

And she was so glad to be home and that mostly she was found.

One day Red Dog Rouge will grow to have puppies of her own

But now she is happy to just chew on her old chipped bone.