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I declare Me and my entourage...

I declare Me and my entourage of four footed friends out for our independence day daily constitutional

Both blinding blizzard of snow (delivering sub-zero with wind chill temperatures far below absolute zero during dead of winter - impossible mission to imagine what with a heat dome sizzling a large swath of the United States), and blazing saddles (ushering triple degrees on heat index scale) hazy, hot and humid dog days of summer and "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," not only United States postal employee motto, but both also demonstrate the extreme scenarios videlicet albedo effect (measures how much sunlight a surface reflects back into space rather than absorbing aforementioned phenomena as heat calibrated on a scale from 0 (absorbing all light, like dark pavement) to 1 (reflecting all light, like fresh snow), this reflectivity drives critical climate feedback loops vis a vis high and low extremes affecting living organisms, where the former frozen precipitation blanket of fresh virgin snow across the terra firma can reflect up to 90% of incoming sunlight, while the latter absorbs more than 90% of the sunlight it receives respectively.

No matter which season of the witch
I would rather twitch
with excitement and enlist

and blow on whistle

to fearsome four furry friend

who join me in a game of Quidditch

the first man's best friend

to respond to discernible pitch

audiologically detected courtesy

Canis lupus familiaris.


 

Once upon a time I imagined myself

as a gregarious tow headed little boy
who lived in a webbed
wide world of make believe
where every day pitch perfect
edenic, idyllic, opportunistic to deploy
an arsenal of canine body guards
chief among them
a brawny bulldog named Fitzroy;
a Cane Corso: Massive
Italian mastiff with muscular body,
large blocky head,
and no-nonsense,
brooding expression female aptly
bitch in heat Helen-of-Troy;
Rottweiler: Renowned working dog
with powerful frames,
square snouts, and classic
black-and-tan markings who brings Joy;
Doberman Pinscher:
Sleek, athletic, and alert dog
known for their sharp,
angular faces and strong,
watchful postur
who takes no bull
and issues frog like bark immediately responds
to the appellation Leroy;
American Pit Bull Terrier:
Compact and highly muscular dog
with wide, prominent cheekbones
and a sturdy, confident stance
born on the planet Vulcan only puppy
of Ambassador Sarek
and his female counterpart Amanda
with Spock like facial features
which bespoke the name Nimoy;
and still accepting name suggestions
for the following breeds;
GraysonPerro de Presa Canario:
Large, heavy-boned mastiff
from the Canary Islands
with a powerful, assertive posture,
German Shepherd:
Highly alert working dog
with wolf-like facial features
and a reputation
for being formidable protectors;
Pit Bulls (and bully breeds):
A catch-all term for terriers
with wide, blocky heads
and muscular necks
that often project a tough image;
Akita: Large Japanese dog
with broad head
and dense coats
that give them a striking
and dominant look;
Chow Chow: Fluffy
but uniquely lion-like,
with deep-set eyes
and a scowling expression
that some people

find mean and unapproachable.


I depend on coterie of coveted canines
plus buffered with a fluffy 
yet ferocious phalanx of felines 
as each of their heads 
quizzically, collectively inclines
presenting quite a fright

to any onlookers and more dangerous
than a field of landmines.

— Jane A. Rug, Jul 04, 2026

About This Poem

Last Few Words: natural phenomena affect me in unpredictable ways and means such as the reflection or absorption of sun rays, but as my excitement unspooled itself, the notion of safety, whether experiencing the hazy, hot and humid weather here in pennsylvania, where this non-bachelor lives, but he sorely doth miss lake woebegone.

Style/Type: Free verse

Review Request Direction: What did you think of my title?
How was my language use?
What did you think of the rhythm or pattern or pacing?
How does this theme appeal to you?
How was the beginning/ending of the poem?
Is the internal logic consistent?

Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back

Editing Stage: Final polish

About the Author

Region, Country: PA, USA

Favorite Poets: Robert Burns, Charles Dickens, Robert Frost, Matthew Scott Harris, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Sylvia Plath, Gary Snyder, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman

More from this author

Critiques

neopoet

neopoet

2 weeks 3 days ago

Neopoet AI [2026-06]

The below is a computer-generated response from Neo, Neopoet’s AI:

The poem has genuine energy and an appealing premise: a speaker marshaling an eccentric entourage of dogs through seasonal extremes, with the whole procession carrying something of a tall-tale warmth. The names given to the dogs — Fitzroy, Helen-of-Troy, Joy, Leroy, Nimoy — form a clever rhyme chain that shows real playful intelligence, and the Star Trek parentage invented for Nimoy is an amusing, committed piece of whimsy.

The central problem is structural proportion. The long opening paragraph, packed with scientific exposition on albedo, wind-chill physics, and postal mottos, is prose in both form and spirit, and it overwhelms the lighter imaginative material that follows. A reader has to push through a great deal of technical information before the poem's actual subject — the childhood fantasy, the named dogs, the seasonal walk — comes into view. That material, once reached, is livelier and more distinctively voiced. Trimming or entirely removing the opening block, and letting the "season of the witch" stanza open the poem directly, would give the playful core room to breathe. Similarly, the latter section listing unnamed breeds reads as an unfinished draft note rather than a poetic choice; either completing those dogs with names and brief imaginative details equal to Fitzroy and Nimoy, or cutting the list, would bring the poem to a more finished state.

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