Crystal Dog

The crystal dog
likes it when I take his
collar off
when the maple trees line
like soldiers
tall and frozen 
leading to a 
distant memory
Where the crystal dog
has sparks in his eyes
and his nose perks towards
the tree tops
and he crooks his leg
as if he wasn't bred to be
the child of a 
coddling culture
but still
the chirps in the bushes
peek more than interest
and the crystal dog
follows bunny tracks
like hiccups in the frost
oh but he is no longer the
crystal dog
no
the light shines through 
him in the woods
and he burns brighter
than the homely 
crystal dog
something forgotten has
been nudged within him
and at the smell of the
ripe moss and the murky puddles
he is awake 
and I wonder
if there is something
like that in everyone
crinkled and ancient
but there none the less
the graying oak you
built the house
around
and somehow forgot
Something that fits so wonderfully perfect
we need no practice
and for the 
crystal dog
it is found in the woods