Paws skittering Jaws chattering Oh noodle dog, Where are you now? Around the bend, on the driveway Water vapour in my lungs With a one-two, one-two -- Paws to the sky! A-ten-tion!! -- At ease. The green bucket, The grey bowl, Lie upturned. Where do learned behaviours go? He knew how to circle-challenge And how to bow and shake hands on command And how to maneuver his neck for the best pets And how to artfully beg for more. The dinner scraps, The burrowing into gaps, The chin scratch, All gone like droplets through the fabric of the world and gone.