Afternoon Radio

a longing on the radio
the still young voice
of an aging singer
who broke us in the 70s

a piano and strings
I can't catch the words
but the sun by the couch
asks me to sit and stop

a dog from down the road
smiles at the open door
waiting for my touch
looking, wagging

he comes in on a nod
delight and wonder
and I can't resist
being a dog, too

so I grunt and wrestle
flip him over
playing on the floor
upending the coffee table

and the radio plays Seal
then the new Springsteen
as the dog sniffs around
my kitchen garbage

the songs are all sweet
and lonesome, but still
filled with old love
that never disappears