It’s always nice to be nominated for a Pushcart Prize. My heartfelt thanks to James Penha, Managing Editor of New Verse News, for nominating my poem “Bark, Bite, Beg, Fight, Roll Over for the next volume of Best of the Small Presses.
Bark Bite Beg Fight Roll Over
It’s a good day to be a dog
just a dog, with a dog brain
blissfully unaware of red and blue tallies,
unburdened by disappointment,
indifferent to triggers or loud words,
unless someone is reaching for a leash.
It’s a good day to be a dog,
fearless, undaunted, exuberantly
ready for any future
confident that tomorrow will be
pretty much the same as today and
the hydrants will be in the same place
It’s a good day to be a dog
keeping dignity when the pit bull passes,
keeping calm when the cats tease,
looking neither left nor right but straight ahead,
putting one paw in front of the other,
tormented by nothing except maybe squirrels.
TheNewVerse.News
Sunday, November 17, 2024
OUR PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINEES
The New Verse News celebrates our nominees for the next volume of
Published March 24, 2024
UNAUTHORIZED VERSION by Julie Steiner
Published April 8, 2024
TOTALITY by Mary Turzillo
Published August 17, 2024
RITUAL HAND-WASHING by William Nelson
Published August 27, 2024
HEAT DOME FORECAST AS A SCENE FROM A ROMANCE NOVEL by Laura Shovan
Published November 9, 2024
CRISIS AT THE HEDGES by Lisa Seidenberg
Published November 10, 2024
BARK, BITE, BEG, FIGHT, ROLL OVER by Gabriella Brand
Gabriella Brand 
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