All four of the Chocolate Labs

we have had one at a time

(Oh, my who could handle

more than one at a time?

Some saint in time.)

over the years

get dirty ears

and then their ears itch and

then they shake

and shake and shake

their heads

driving us to distraction

and necessary action,

so we attempt to clean their ears

the veterinarian recommended way

which is to use a soft syringe to spray

vinegar in the ears and then sweep

down deep

with a q-tip through the dirty caverns

all the way.

But they

are pretty smart dogs and they would

see

us coming syringe in hand

and would run for the hills

in some distant land

which means behind the bed.

Pulled by the collar

outside to the deck,

they eventually say, “What the heck,

I can’t get away so I’ll just let them

spray and then I will shake, shake,

shake driving them further to

distraction.

Yes, that will be

my revengeful action.

And I won’t give them a kiss

for at least a minute’s fraction.

So there. I win.”

And we let them think they’ve

won. That’s half the fun, but

even though they think

we’re mean,

we win

because their ears are

clean.