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Billy Collins - Dharma

The way the dog trots out the front door
every morning
without a hat or an umbrella,
without any money
or the keys to her doghouse
never fails to fill the saucer of my heart
with milky admiration.

Who provides a finer example 
of a life without encumbrance—
Thoreau in his curtainless hut
with a single plate, a single spoon?
Gandhi with his staff and his holy diapers?

Off she goes into the material world
with nothing but her brown coat
and her modest blue collar,
following only her wet nose, 
the twin portals of her steady breathing,
followed only by the plume of her tail.

If only she did not shove the cat aside
every morning 
and eat all his food
what a model of self-containment she
would be,
what a paragon of earthly detachment.
If only she were not so eager 
for a rub behind the ears,
so acrobatic in her welcomes,
if only I were not her god.

Added: on April 8th, 2007 at 9:36 AM | Viewed: 5275 times | Comments and analysis of Dharma by Billy Collins Comments (3)


Dharma - Comments and Information

Poet: Billy Collins
Poem: Dharma
Volume: http://www.bookmagazine.com/issue18/poetics.shtml

Comment 3 of 3, added on June 11th, 2007 at 3:29 PM.

for John rasor: the poem is called The Revenant (by Billy Collins)

phi lynch from United States
Comment 2 of 3, added on May 20th, 2007 at 12:12 PM.

Billy Collins recently read a poem about a dog's thoughts after the dog died. Collins read it on a recent Praire Home Companion. I've search a number of pages and can't find it. It was more than funny.

john rasor from United States
Comment 1 of 3, added on April 8th, 2007 at 9:36 AM.

Garrison Keillor read this one morning on the alamanac. My favorite since.

patrick stein from United States

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