Substitute Submission #26 to the New Yorker:

 

My Shih-Tzu's Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun

 

BY KIERSTEN CONNER-SAX

 

My Shih-Tzu's eyes are nothing like the sun;

They google at me from her snub-nosed head;

If mud be brown, she'll tromp in it for fun;

If paws are dirty, she'll jump onto my bed.

 

I have seen show dogs, brown and white,

But no such dog have I seen for weeks;

And in most gym bags is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my Shih-Tzu reeks.

 

She eats too much, and well I know

That she weighs more than 14 pounds;

She tries to jump up on the couch although

My fat dog, when she falls, thuds on the ground.

 

And yet, by heaven, I find my Shih-Tzu as rare

As any dog with a topknot in her hair.

 

 

 

©2005 by Kiersten Conner-Sax

From "50 Tries" at kiersten.connersax.com