I Must Have Been a Dog (in another life)
Elizabeth P. Glixman

I have been a dog
Must have been, says a friend
You see dogs everywhere when we go walking
Even when they are around the corner
Even if they are a mile away
She is right
I knew there was a dog sniffing down the street
Behind the trees
I have premonitions of canines
I am part of the cosmic pack
They send me messages
Not in my dreams though
Those messages are reserved for cats
The latest message
A beagle says, I’ll be rounding the corner
Be at the park in five minutes
Tell your friend
It is a game I play like ball with him
Let’s fake people out, he barks

My friend does not have antennae for dogs
She has shut down her receiver terminal
For anything alive
She has an open terminal for places
That sell ice cream

It is like stealing cable, this dog telepathy
I am not registered with the FCC
Keep it quiet

We are at the park
Oh, here comes the beagle
It’s uncanny, my friends says
How did you know that a dog was in the area?
It is like you sense dogs in the air
Like a person who says it will rain soon
When the barometric pressure goes down

The beagle gives me a tail wag as he walks by
I give him thumbs up
I guess the expression it’s raining cats and dogs
Has its roots in my kind of ability
To sense canine auric changes in the energy field
I tell her
I must have been a dog
Must have been, she agrees
I lick her face
We walk on

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