Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A FAMILIAR SPIRIT, by WENDELL PHILLIPS STAFFORD


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A FAMILIAR SPIRIT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a ghost of a dog that comes
Last Line: Who says a little dog hasn't a soul?
Subject(s): Animals; Dogs


There is a ghost of a dog that comes
As soon as I touch the knob of the door.
I can hear his quick nails scratch on the floor,
And suddenly all my fingers are thumbs—

I scarcely can get the key in the lock,
But I do, and I feel his paws on my knee;
Then off he goes in an ecstacy,
Barking like mad. I stand like a stock.

I can hear his last-year's collar-tag clink
On the edge of the bowl—he has gone to drink.
But he seems to get lost somehow in the bowl,
For he doesn't come back, and I think and think:
Who says a little dog hasn't a soul?





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