Dogs in a Row (writing to a prompt)

by Leigh Jordan

Eight dogs in a row. They are
sitting in front of a blue house. Left
to right their placement is: tallest,
first-little, littler-still,
almost-tallest, again-
small then, as finale, medium,
medium, medium. Tallest is
crow black, the again-small
is chalk white, and the first-little
has the cocked head dogs have made
famous. The almost-tallest
is a Shepard and appropriately
carrying the dog-pack
for the eight. The second-medium
has fold-over ears similar to the Shepard’s,
while the third-medium
has stand-out wings for ears. Behind
them, their aura is a rainbow – a steep set
of stairs, each riser painted one
rainbow color in a repeating pattern: purple,
blue, green, yellow, orange, red, purple,
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
There is no dog at the top of the stairs,
they are all sitting on the sidewalk
shading the last couple of steps
looking out at me, waiting. I twirl
and spin, again and again twirl,
spin – arms stretched out, hair
on end, laughter
a spiral nebula
around me.

PROMPT:

I used this image in an LGBTQ+ affinity group online write I facilitated, sponsored by Amherst Writers & Artists for Pride month. (A local owner of Clever Pets asked if she & her wife could take an Insta pic at the front steps to the house my wife & I rented.

Prompt: If you’d like, try writing from an animal’s point of view!