One Dog's Mischief

This would be crunch-time for me on the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I work until seven tonight and I have Bible study at seven Tuesday morning. Very little extra gets done in my world in that time period. I was going to write some extra blogs on Sunday, but already did one here and on my other blog. But I am going to plow through and still somehow post something witty every single day this month!

In addition to everything else on Sunday, I wrote the following poem for my local writers group Facebook page. We have been having trouble getting together in person, so try to share stuff at least on Facebook. I posted the challenge to write a piece which included the line, “And that’s when the Christmas tree went out the door.”

The dog’s name was Bingo just like the song

But he did not know right from wrong

He got in the garbage, the cupboards, the wash

And chewed up so many things – oh gosh

No matter how many scoldings or swats

He kept getting into things, and I mean a lot

Then he would gaze up with his little dark eyes

A tilt of his head which made him look wise

He would whimper a moment and raise a paw

And just for that second I would forget all his flaws

As Christmas approached, I thought I had had it

With all of his messes, that four-legged sh - -

I couldn’t imagine him not dragging away

Each present and package I had wrapped through the day

But I was determined to keep Christmas good

The dog would go first, yes he would

He seemed to relinquish his mischievous spree

As if finally he realized what it meant to me

The house was all ready, the lights all aglow

Even the nativity which was more than for show

With the Baby Jesus in his bed fast asleep

Under the tree, Mary and Joseph to keep

In the middle of the night Bingo jumped in my bed 

An innocent mixed breed who might have been dead

Had I not saved him at the shelter that day

Picking him from all of the strays

When I went in the next room early next morn

I screamed like a banshee when I looked at the floor

Each present, each Santa, each snowflake, each ball

Had been dragged from the tree and that’s not all

Baby Jesus had become a scary sad sight

Having been torn in four pieces overnight

I looked at the dog and started to roar

No more of you, dog, you are out that door

As I pointed one finger and shook another at him

He lowered his body and started to shim

Flat on the floor he slinked over to me

Put one paw on my toe, looked at the tree

I decided right then something must give

This kind of a mess is no way to live

So I picked up my mutt as I scanned the floor

And that’s when the Christmas tree went out the door

My wish for next year is not for a tree

But to still have my Bingo spend Christmas with me.

 

My dad's dog Mac under our Christmas tree in 1981. The broken leg is a story for another time. 

You perhaps think that this poem was inspired by Dino, the Wonder Dog. Actually, there was only one line which referred to an incident he was involved in, but I took it out as there was a 300 word limit on this challenge, and I was already over by 100 words! Dino’s indiscretion involved chewing up my underwear, only the dirty ones of course. Arrgh. The disgusting little mutt! But that was when he was still a puppy. He is all grown up now. All he chews up now are used Kleenex’s! He’s matured so much.

Watch for tomorrow’s post where I will tell you about the antics of the other two dogs I thought of when I wrote this. (Yes, one of them is Mac.)