Proudly astray!!

                                              Moti

He was a runt –his ribs stood out

He cowered on hearing a human shout

Lurked near the rubbish dump

Salvaging leftovers from the gunk

Tail tucked permanently between the legs

Feral,furtive,dogly dreg.

Mothering a dog was not on my list

Already had more than I could possibly hold in my fist.

But there was no getting away from that gaunt face and the brown  eyes

Chewing empty milk cartons ,potato skins, or vainly trying to prise

empty jagged tin cans with his paws-

that brown teenaged puppy with a bloodied jaw.

So we carried some food each day

He waited to eat till we went away

And one day I imagined that his tail twitched

On seeing me coming-maybe just a little bit.

And why it funnily made my heart soar

How I started expecting him outside my door

The twitch tentative and hesitant

Gradually became a full blown thump ebullient

Now I contentedly walk with  dogs at my heels

And curse and scold as they jump and squeal

For Moti has friends and attendants

And all of them are egregious miscreants

Their hobbies include chasing squirrels,chewing shoes

And occassionally dragging in dead mongoose.

My home is now their official terrain

And no strangers dare trespass this domain.

Moti sees all of us off - my daughter as she gets on

the school bus;he  fawns on us on our returns.

He loves us but loves his friends too

And doesn’t panic each time we bid adieu.

He may not be a Labrador or German Shepherd

But he is handsome,proud and sharp- like a wild leopard

Lolo(my late lab) beams benovently  through some heavenly webcam

Her spirit smiling at this canine bedlam.