She promptly returned my call
Saying, “I have spoken before to a Bob Dahl –
Germanic origin, Scandinavian.”
I said, “Five years ago, it could have been.
For a chocolate lab we were looking.”
And she had said, “Not much cooking.”
So, here we are again, and this time
She said, “I think we might be fine.
An old Scandinavian guy named Bob with a bad ticker
Is worried about his eight-year-old lab’s future,
If he should push up daisies,
So his mind is full of what’s and maybe’s.”
“So, let me get this right
You volunteer morning, noon and night,
While being a full-time Scandinavian studies professor?”
I wondered whatever possessed her.
For dogs, she had a deeply felt love.
She seemed like a homeless dog’s heavenly dove.
“Is the dog’s name known to you?”
“The dog’s name is Buddy.”
“Oh, my, my last dog was Buddy, too.”
She exclaimed, “Two Scandinavian Bob’s and two old Buddy’s, too.
Let me see what I can do.”
She said it might be serendipitous
Or perhaps synchronistic.
She had the vocabulary of a professor of linguistics.
Being a retired minister, I said providential perhaps.
She said she would call me back.
I’m waiting for the call, but it has only been a day.
I guess I’ll just sit in my chair and pray.