Service Dog

I am in my 60s
An adjunct professor
At Austin Community
College attending a
General Faculty meeting
In a large auditorium.
As I make my way down
A crowded aisle to find
A chair my eyes wander
To a service dog guiding
His charge up the aisle,
Our eyes meet and the
German Shepard whimpers
And hangs his head then
Lays down still whimpering
As his owner bends asking
What is wrong are you OK?
I did not mean to look at
The dog nor did I mean
To frighten another sentient
Being and especially not a
Seeing-eye dog twenty feet away.
I immediately drop my gaze
Turn my back and move
Away then make a way off
Down a row of chairs as far
As I can from the service dog.
Once I am seated I am careful
Not to look at the dog though
I can plainly hear his whimpers
Until his owner gets the dog
To continue up the aisle past
Where I was when I first
Looked into the dog’s eyes.
A lesson I knew but
Forgot for an
Instant but
Have
Regretted all
These years,
I do not know why
The dog reacted but
My guess is I looked
Like his old trainer
And surprised
The dog.
I remember
When teaching
To smile and
Not spook
Some nice
Student.