As part of its Poetry Corner series, the Library hosted a group of thirty last week for poetry readings by students and faculty along the theme of “furry friends.” Participants read aloud from poems they admired or had written themselves, with some composed on the fly during the session itself. Participants especially enjoyed Mary Oliver’s poems from the book Dog Songs and a Library display including pet-related artwork created by our main creative talent, our amazing student assistants. Some students attended as part of an assignment to review a literary event.
Following the readings, students shared heartfelt stories of loss and love around their own furry friends, past and present, noting how much we depended on them during Covid especially.
From the many poems read aloud, three original poems are shared here for your enjoyment.
An Ode to Dogs in the Media, by Justin De Guzman, Skyline College student
Throughout the generations
Through screen and speech and page
The media is filled with dogs
Of every shape and age
I took some time to write an ode
To name some D-O-Gs
No matter how much fame they have
Or how niche they may be
To Snoopy and his antics
To Odie and his smile
To Great Dane Scooby Doo
And his iconic laughing style
To Clifford and his epic size
To Martha and her words
To that dog in Duck Hunt
That laughs when you miss birds
To one-oh-one dalmatians
To Lady and the Tramp
To all the dogs in Minecraft
That shake when they get damp
To Marmaduke, a big boy
To Pluto, Goofy too
To my man K.K. Slider
Who’ll sing his songs for you
To Blue and her skadoo-ing
To Bluey and her friends
To Huckleberry Hound
In his cartoon from way back when
To Inugami Korone
To Dug from Pixar’s “Up”
To both Air Bud and Marley
Those rambunctious movie pups
To Ruff Ruffman and Frankenweenie
To Snoop Dogg, technically
To all the dogs I didn’t mention
In this rhyming spree
Whatever you are featured in
No matter who you are
Just know that I will love you
Cause every dog’s a star
World Languages professor Luciana Castro shared her poem:
“The Love of Our Lives: Unexpected”
Always a feisty joy for me
Pure, perky and persistent puppy
Ornament to my humble home
Love of our lives: unexpected
Listening to our voice is his trademark
Our Apollo is our anchor for love and sorrows.
Librarian Jessica Silver-Sharp shared a poem she’d written as well:
Union cats demand dinner!
it’s 5:07 and closed session is in overtime
tired members on zoom
watch the clock,
worrying about traffic
union cats are getting restless
dinner time is 5:00pm. sharp.
(it’s in the contract!)
purring, they politely begin their testimonials…
“we provided you with support during covid”
“we were your therapists,
adjusting our routines to fit yours,
sacrificing our independence!”
***
Cats: “Did they hear us?”
It’s 5:09
Time for action!
walk across keyboards,
swish tails in faces
reverse direction —
repeat!
5:12. Escalate!
claws in the good rug – we don’t mess around
and why not? let’s make some noise!
meow, me-OW, ME-OWW!!!”
pause…
O-kay already!
“brb,” she texts her comrades…
“pet break!”
Victory @ 5:14
***
Thank you to event facilitators Librarian Pia Walawalkar and Professor Rob Williams and to all of our student and faculty participants who made “Ode to Furry Friends” a success! Additional thanks to Gabriela Nocito for the animal cookies that were much enjoyed. We look forward to having you back for more poetry in Fall 2023.
Article by Jessica Silver-Sharp | Photo by Jessica Silver-Sharp
