Meeting

I am 19 on a sunny day
In October 1965,
Meeting my companion’s
Two sons 2 and 5 for the
First time.
She wants me to meet
Her dog to see if I am
Who and what I appear
To be, as I walk across
Her front lawn
She opens her front door
To her house and
Out charge five puppies
And a concerned
Mama dog guarding her pups.
I drop to grass lying
Prone as the pups crawl over
Me and mama dog
Sniffs my hand then lays beside me.
Her two boys come out,
The younger is blond and smiling
The elder is sandy-haired
Hesitant at a new male in the
Circle but eager to play pups
They lay on the grass as she smiles
At me accepting I am as I appear,
A young man of good character
Though rough and as yet
Lacking a higher education.
We will spend 52 years together
Raising our three sons,
Best job I ever had.