Poem by The Other? (who wants some cheese.)
dVerse Poets Pub, a wonderfully supportive website for online poets, has a poetics prompt today about writing in the voice of the other (hosted by Mark Kerstetter). I have one very serious poem written from a very different perspective (the poem’s called Honor Killing.) But the world is such a somber place these days, I wanted to focus on something lighter, i.e. a dog! And cheese!
So here’s the poem. And below is a little fledgling animation I did some time ago which does not exactly illustrate the poem, but is close enough. (Have a great and light Saturday!)
Sniff Becomes Him
Sniff cheese sniff cheese sniff cheese above,
Sniff that pungent sniff I love.
Sniff high faint clouds of that so dear–
Sniff cheese so far and yet so near.
Sniff bowl, oh holy hallowed
Bowl, sniff (howl howl) bowl, so hollowed
Now. Oh please Oh please
Oh please, Oh please!
Oh wherefore art thou
Phantom cheese?
Sniff time not passing,
(Swiss, Cheddar, Brie?)
Sniff hours harassing,
(Oh my! Oh me!)
A Treat! (for Pete’s sake!)
For him who’ll wait
By door and bedside
Early, late.
Oh whimper/whine, I’ll beg no more,
If you’ll just drop some on the floor.
Egads! Yum Yum! My thanks for this,
Sweet morsel of a moment’s bliss.
(Repeat till satisfied.)
Tags: animation of dog begging for cheese, dog poem, dVerse Poets Pub, HD animation, HD Animation Creation, iPad art, manicddaily, ManicDDaily poetry, poem about dog begging for cheese
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ManicDDaily 
October 22, 2011 at 2:30 pm
haha – love me some swiss gryère and you make my day..smiles..didn’t know that dogs really like cheese..(our dog ate a quarter pound of butter one day…but he didn’t really feel good afterwards..) your poem made me smile..thanks for this
October 22, 2011 at 7:45 pm
dogs love cheese, in agility class, the instructor said to use cheese for snacks and make it the special snack just for agility.
October 22, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Ha! (I knew my dog was not alone in this! Only she’s sixteen so not very agile.)
October 22, 2011 at 2:52 pm
my dog sure did like this…
October 22, 2011 at 3:06 pm
I love the playful language and the last line is cool – like a recipe. Your drawings are charming too.
October 22, 2011 at 3:14 pm
haha that was a lot of fun…i could def follow the one track mind once he got a hold of the scent….or it could have been me around dinner time..just saying…smiles.
October 22, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Yes… a truly fun and light reprieve from reality. I love it!
October 22, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Very clever verse. Yes, I can see it clearly. My two dogs love cheese. They love everything that humans eat. You got inside the head of the dog well.
October 22, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Apparently you are intimately acquainted with my dog’s innermost being – we call her a cheesehound as I’m sure the breed is popular throughout the world. Thanks for the smile.
October 22, 2011 at 5:22 pm
I think you definitely got into the persona of this breed–I also have one who can hear the deli-drawer in the fridge opening from outside and before the knife is raised be poised to receive the holy cheese communion. I laughed much at this, and I think the ‘sniff’ part was an excellent poetic device of mimicry. Good stuff.
October 22, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Clever and fun! Nice run with the prompt and loved the animation…leaving your space still smiling 🙂
October 22, 2011 at 6:16 pm
This was certainly fun and playful with a cute animated cartoon to add to the fun of it all. Great job of getting in the one track mind of pooch obsessed with cheese 🙂
October 22, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Ha Ha! Love it! a dog’s perspective!
and a dog ‘walks on his stomach’.
Love the animated clip too.
the piece was cute and enjoyable. thanks.
October 22, 2011 at 7:33 pm
Thanks, Tink.
October 22, 2011 at 9:33 pm
ha…ha…so cute and fun.. i like my cheese too ~
October 23, 2011 at 7:43 am
They so want to please us…I think they feel as though we need to please them too. Perhaps, they think by eating our food they’re becoming more like us. We are the alpha dogs when they live with us after all. Very whimsical, both poem and artwork. Excellent work.
October 23, 2011 at 7:53 am
Thanks so much, Gay.
October 23, 2011 at 9:28 am
Great piece, just a really fun read. BTW my dogs adore cheese, especially the border collie. Thanks
October 23, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Thank you, hobgoblin.
October 23, 2011 at 12:15 pm
This sounds exactly like my dog! Delightful, fun piece!
October 23, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Thanks, Mama Zen.
October 23, 2011 at 1:37 pm
What a delight, capturing this exactly the way my dog “asks” for cheese or any other morsel that might fall. I love the voice you gave this… adorable… =)
October 23, 2011 at 5:47 pm
I’m awfully glad you chose to post this one. Such a good understanding of a dog’s point of view…at least my dogs. Lots of fun.
October 23, 2011 at 5:54 pm
Thanks so much, Victoria. I had all kinds of very serious things going through my mind, but couldn’t quite bear to deal with them just yet. I have a very funny old old dog.
October 24, 2011 at 2:28 am
adorable. i often wish i were as pampered as my pooch
October 24, 2011 at 3:46 pm
I really enjoyed experiencing this through the canine voice… very cool…!