poems
poems.philellsworth.com
  • About
  • Blue-Shaded Mountains
  • Images
  • About
  • Blue-Shaded Mountains
  • Images
  • Home
  • /
  • Uncategorized

Ole Blue

 

 

Ole Blue

Now you might think Ole Blue was a dog tried and true
Who died after years of devotion
To lie in the lee of a cottonwood tree
And tug at his master’s emotion
Like the strains of Old Shep sung around the campfire
By Trubey and Zitting and me.
It’s a wonderful song, but you would be wrong;
It’s a different Ole Blue, as you’ll see.

I was living at home, not long from the war,
Just drawing my 52/ 20,
Not much you might say, for libation and play,
But for idlers it seemed to be plenty.
On the day I’ve in mind I pulled up the blind
And there on his way down the street
Was an elderly gent and I saw as he went
He was troubled to stay on his feet.
I gave him a glance and thought," Here’s a chance
To do a kind act randomly."
So I held to his arm so he’d come to no harm
And we went down the street carefully,
(And I thought all the while, with a touch of a smile,
"Won’t the neighbors think highly of me?")

And down the next block, we continued to walk
With no words, ‘til he waved toward a door,
And we went up some steps and I knocked on the door
And we waited, and waited some more,
And thoughts crossed my mind of the welcome we’d find
From a daughter, a wife, or a sister,
To see at the door their dear loved-one once more,
Home safe, and with his assistor.

The door cracked a bit and I have to admit
It was not what I’d anticipated;
She was large, she looked tough, and if that’s not enough
She seemed to be less than elated.
With a lip that was curled, the words almost hurled,
"It’s Ole Blue", she said, quite disgusted.
She pulled him inside and with a glance somewhat snide
Let me know that I was mistrusted.

Now I assure you this story is true
And I’ll never forget the occasion
When in all the world’s view I ushered Ole Blue
To a house of the feline persuasion

 

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Phil. This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.
The Contemplative Pig
Cloudy Day

    Recent Posts

    • Blue-Shaded Mountains

    • Preface

    • Blue-shaded Mountains

    • Home

    • Let me not be inured

    • Three Miracles

    • The Ties That Bind

    • The Turquoise Sea

    • Butterfly

    • The Last Barricade

    • Epitaph for an Apple Orchard

    • Tell Me, Love

    • Mountain Lake in Autumn

    • The Magic Ring

    • Surface Creek Valley

    • Steal Away

    • Please, Time

    • Canyonlands

    • Floating Leaves

    • Melancholy Air

    • Discovery

    • Autumn Days

    • The Sundogs

    • Gifts

    • The Meeting

    • Love Song

    • September Flowers

    • Margaret’s Song

    • The Color Gray

    • Memory of Keweenaw

    • If You Are There

    • Mountain Love Song

    • I Believe in You

    • The Hills of Home

    • A Stardust Song

    • Remembrance of Things Past

    • Recipe for Wonder

    • Robert Burlison

    • Why I Try to Sing

    • The Cranes of Hart’s Basin

    • The Valley In Spring

    • Day of Days

    • The Hidden Likeness

    • Unity In Variety

    • The Infantry Scout

    • Heilbronn

    • Thanksgiving Day

    • The Ninth of Next November

    • Dancing with Margaret

    • What’s in a Name?

    • In Our Town

    • Scarlet Gilia

    • Bright Angel

    • The Aspen

    • Suppose There Were No Words

    • To Mary Catherine, in Heaven

    • Starry Night

    • Yesterday and Today

    • Remembered Song

    • Room 37

    • The Contemplative Pig

    • Ole Blue

    • Cloudy Day

    • Epinal

    • Apricot Blossom

    • Talking to a High School Class About the War

    • The Castaways

    • Leftover Love

    • Safe Passage

    • What Tracy Found

    • Amor Ardiente Waltz

    • Telling Time

    • Tell Me, Love

    • Googling the Color Gray

    • The Command

    • The Foe

    • The Mountain Stream

    • The Canyon

    • A Poet’s Prayer

    • Living On The Edge

    • Lonesome Cowboy

    • A Place Called “Morning”

    • Verity in Autumn

    • Memorial Day, 2015

    • Come Home To The Hills      

    • The Salt Mine

    • A New Day

    • The Way

    • Old Love

    • I Remember You

    • Pearly Girls

    • Tell Her, Stars

    • To My Grandchildren, Written on my 70th Birthday

    • Spring Comes To Marmotland

    • Octogenarian Valentine

    • Hands

    • Cordillera

    • Discovery (A talk given …)

    • Margaret and Verity

    • An Old Man Speaks To Those Who Are Young

    • Morning Song

    • Poems, prose and songs, 2.10.19 Part 1

    • Poems, prose and songs, 2.10.19 Part 2

    • Poems, prose and songs, 2.10.19 Part 3

    • “Tell Her Stars” Feb. 24, 2019

    • Love Song

    • A happening in Moby-Dick and a similar happening many years later

    • Comrade, I Remember

    Tags

    aphrodite apple orchards aspen bravery brother canyons chance color comraderie count those cranes creativity dancing duty epinal fear fog gray grey home Infantry keweenaw love memories memory mountains perseverance poems poetry River robert burlison safe passage ship snow snowed in storms Strasbourg thunder time trillium truth valleys weather world war ii ww2

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
Powered by