Dogs by Ronald Wallace

Poem “Dogs” by Ronald Wallace

I cannot imagine the sentiment a six year old may possibly feel when he by accident, hits a dog with a baseball bat. And then, the dog has to be put to sleep because its jaw is broken. That is by far, shockingly traumatic; a memory that perhaps stays with him for the rest of his life. Like the kid in the poem, I would grow up asking myself what I can do to mend the mishap. It would be beneficial to be around dogs and take good care of them, love them and play with them every time I can. Nonetheless, the resemblance of the eyes of that singular dog, that have to be put to sleep, will always be extant on each dog that he comes across.  

One night, my dad was driving home and a very small dog that came out of nowhere crossed the street frantically running. My father couldn’t stop his truck on time and the tiny dog got ran over. As he could see through the back mirror, the dog was still rolling in the middle of the street. At the same time my father could hear the dog screaming for his life. My father immediately stopped his car on the side of the road and ran to pick the dog up to see if it still was alive, but unfortunately it had just died. With tears on his eyes, he checked to see if there was a tag on it, so that he can call its owners and give the bad news to them, but there was none. So he left little pretty dog on the side of the road, in case someone was looking for it.

My father came home that night in tears, he couldn’t eat supper and less he couldn’t sleep. When he went by the next day, the little dog wasn’t there anymore. Every now and then, when for some reason we remember that day and how by accident he killed the little dog, my dad cries again. I guess it is that feeling of guilt, just like the kid in the poem that stayed with him for the rest of his life. Even though the dog was killed by accident in both stories and there was nothing that they can do, the memory of that day makes the moment blue.

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