Two Poems
Paul Burgess

Prayer for the Dog in a Nearby Car

While waiting for a light that’s stuck on red,

I watch a window letting through a snout

that bounces with a tether-balling head

in mad pursuit of bees that fly about.

“When winning costs too much, it’s best to fail”

appears a thing he hasn’t yet been taught,

and frantic wagging of his shaggy tail

suggests a bee’s a bug he’s never caught.

I hope that bees remain beyond his reach,

that life permits no sober, yelping day

occasion for a punctured face to teach

the dog to fear a chase he thought was play.

Oh, God of Dogs, allow your earthly son

to truly win by having never won.

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First published in Snakeskin (June 2026)

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Thanks, Chipmunk!

Before I had a chance to swerve or brake,

you jumped in front, then acted trapped in tar

as though you felt the risk a thrill to take

or planned on suicide-by-passing car.

I dreaded thinking of you lying flat

and ready for the vultures’ eager beaks

instead of stuffing cheeks ‘til cartoon-fat

or warding off a predator with squeaks.

My rearview mirror didn’t show your shape,

which means that luck or maybe wily skill

allowed a by-a-rodent-hair escape

and saved my conscience from a senseless kill.

I offer up these words of gratitude

and wish you faces full of summer food.

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Paul’s notes: “Many of my favorite ideas come to me when I’m driving, which is ironic since I don’t really like driving. Both of these poems were largely scribbled at stoplights.

“Without meaning to, I’ve written so many animals-encountered-while-driving poems that I might end up with enough of them for a rather strange book.”

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Paul Burgess is the sole proprietor of a business in Lexington, Kentucky that offers ESL classes in addition to English, Japanese, and Spanish-language translation and interpretation services. He has recently contributed work to Blue Unicorn, The Road Not Taken, Light, Apricity, Star*Line, The Orchards, Snakeskin, Pulsebeat, and several other publications. Paul’s blog is here and readers are welcome to contact him via this link.

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Two Poems Paul Burgess

Two Poems
Paul Burgess