Amongst the ancient artefacts unearthed <br />were six dog-collars with their owners’ names <br />in hieroglyphs—three thousand years it is <br />since Brave One and his master went to hunt <br />for waterfowl among the reedy marshes <br />of the Nile, near where, beneath a shady palm, <br />the dogs, Good Herdsman and Reliable, <br />stood guard upon their master’s herd of kine; <br />nearby North Wind (the fastest dog in Thebes) <br />and Antelope strove might and main to keep <br />penned safe a restless flock of bleating sheep, <br />all steady dogs deserving of our praise. <br />But who’s that scruffy dog with lolling tongue <br />and sideways grin that idly lollops by? <br />A good for nothing sort of beast, he looks, <br />too loveable to guard a house, too daft <br />to herd a sheep and slow to bring back game, <br />but you know his master must have loved him <br />when he dubbed him with that name—can you guess? <br />In hieroglyphs or English it’s the same — “Useless! ”<br /><br />Pete Crowther<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/useless-2/
