(Poem 20 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

Beauty watches Aiko (the husky) sleep.
She studies the paws positioned
in perfect running formation,
as though young again, racing at
breakneck speed faster than thought.
She notices the rise and fall of
breath and memory, dream and peace.
A double winter coat invites nestling,
and Beauty contemplates placement,
position, cause of least disturbance,
optimal geographic juxtaposition
of functional grace, busy relaxation,
dutiful nonchalance, operative indifference.
There is an art to being both beautiful
and resolute, relevant and immaterial–
a skill to pondering both nothing and
everything—and she has perfected it.

@Home Studio – Watching Aiko and Beauty together – 20^th poem of the year