Once again, our hero is escaping from a less than ideal situation – this time with a canine companion. Clarity arises that places Skitch and his small crew in the clear light of who they are; however, it has taken Hertwig in contrast for the MC to gain this insight. Immediately after the escape, a canine-related dilemma arises, but between the MC’s ingenuity and Argose’s courage, the small event has a happy ending.
Be ready for the nature of travel, the surprise and the boredom of continuing, ever continuing.
Leashless, Argose, and I hurry away
down streets to harbor to pier and to boat
No one follows – the Dragon prize not worth
enough for these three to break a sweat
I feel young and fleet and on adventure
But now standing on the pier looking down
I see a dilemma I hadn’t thought of
I can scuttle down the vertical ladder
but Argose has the wrong appendages
for handling even a few downward steps
I look around for help, but none comes forth
Hart’s line bobs against the thick, wood piling
but I could never lower Argose down
without fear of hanging him, not helping
Only one way fits the situation
A few dead fish float white-eyed down below
I scurry down and haul one out – back up
to show the same to Argose’s bouncing nose
I smear his snout and let him lick my hand
Descending again, I waft the smell up
Argose’s focus bores a stuck lighthouse beam
Boarding Hart and waving fish, I look up
calling my dog with a pack leader’s howl
Argose paces the pier edge whimpering
I howl again, throw the fish, clap my hands
Suddenly Argose launches into air,
front legs tucked, back paws pointed, tail out straight
It appears to me he hangs suspended
mid sky and water, hovering like a gull
I stand, mouth agape, frightened by what I’ve asked
He seems to hang forever in mid-air
perhaps he is taking flight – a moment
passes and he hits the water splashing
spume like a gigantic whale surfacing
He goes down for many moments – longer
than his maiden flight above – I fear
Argose has gone to bottom – I panic
leaning over the gunwale, I peer into
the muddy river water hiding him
He breaks the surface spluttering, coughing
four mad paws thrashing to stay afloat
I thought dogs could swim, but he proves me wrong
In that instant, I jump in, make three strokes
and I’m with him, my arms under tummy
going down as I struggle to secure him
He’s frantic, and the fish is all-forgotten
The boat floats a few yards away, waiting
patiently for her passengers to board
I swim round behind Argose, push his rump
and kick my feet to motor to safety
I tip to port and lift Argose’s front legs
inside while I go under and somehow
using my head, get his rear in as well
I almost founder the boat as I claw up and over
we both lie heaving in the boat’s bottom
and we are aboard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We drift most contented for several weeks
often under sail, sometimes pulling oars
Argose shifts from port to starboard each time
a slight ripple passes beneath our hull
But soon we both gain our sea legs on this
gentle rocking river grown wide and rich
Many hours we pass – makeshift pole and line
dragging with its own tiny wake beside
a most modest, fading red boat gliding
me plucking out the fish silver-sided
Argose politely waiting for his share
when evening comes and fish combine with stores
Only after dark do we approach land
to tie up and sleep near deserted shores
Far out in the stream, I pass river towns
I raise a hand to passing vessels, nod
and smile ‘all’s well,’ but do not speak to them
This boat and my own company enough.
Fish submit themselves to my trailing lines
and supplement the supplies still lasting
The days rise wet and sultry, and snakes
claim the shoreline now too often for my taste
I must find my sleep at anchor floating
distant from the silent fangs in the dark
With no map I cannot name where I am
I prefer it so, heading only South
This one-pointed river-road needs no chart
nor do I so long as I’m south of North
putting distance between that town and me
This wrinkled river could flow straight to hell
and I would enter and not look back once
I may have already crossed that border
and be far inside some black dragon’s lair
Truthfully, I am getting rather bored
and a hot dance with a flame-spitting beast
might brighten up the routine of these days
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In such a mood I approach another
river city, larger than the last, straddling
colossal, bristling on both riverbanks
Its great harbor must connect to the sea
judging by the size and draft of the ships
crowding the docks and tied out at moorings
My boat is dwarfed by these massive sea-beasts
tugging at their thick chains and lines, eager
to be sailing in their native waters
captured here for passing, impatient hours
until they ignite their sailing engines
and break quick foam from bows and quaking ribs
But now a new thought strikes me as I glide
like some mouse creeping below a lion’s gaze
slipping beneath these anchored fortresses,
Something larger than themselves has lured them here.
Their seasoned captains are ashore when they
might be sailing full-strong before the wind
crossing harborless immensities
Of course! These ships must give up their cargo
and take on paying loads for the passage
But the City must hold secrets deeper
than its harbor to gather so many
brilliant arks under one common banner
Suddenly I know I must puzzle out
the answer to this matter, so I will
go ashore here to gather evidence
My whole body tingles at my resolve
my steady prow pointed toward this City
its power a magnet for my iron needle
the sea now a delayed destination
that will be there when I am finished here
with more revealed through explorations
I take money from the stern storage box
Before I can hop into the water
Argose leaps and lands on the sand shoreline
I leap after him into the shallows
A second time in this second city
I tie Hart secure to an encrusted rock
but this time very near the shore, so to
wade in and prevent hoisting Argose up
which would certainly end badly for both of us
Background
I’ve probably said it before, but my love for dogs is not secret. Argose, in this epic, has and will play a larger role than most canine characters, barring Lassie and Rin Tin Tin. Still, it has been a challenge to development dog character with no speech (or not much) and a mind that operates solely in the present moment. (On the later, we could do worse for ourselves.)
This segment is obviously part of a transition, the continuation of the odyssey. The travel seems to bring the MC both boredom and satisfaction. Perhaps this is the nature of all travel. The thrill of being part of unfamiliar people and places. Yet, perhaps, the desire to relax, to not be on guard, to take pleasure in the familiar.
Exploration 1: What do you make or Argose’s place in this narrative? What part do you expect he will play as time goes on?
Exploration 2: After the escape, the MC thinks at one point that the, “. . . river could flow straight to hell and I would enter and not look back once.” What fires this kind of bitterness and deep desire not to return to the native town?
Exploration 3: What do you suppose the “deeper secrets” the new city might hold for the MC?
1. Argose is certainly a more optimistic companion than Hart was. He and MC seem to communicate telepathically.
ReplyDelete2. I never understood why MC hates the old hometown so much. Maybe he/she knew that he/she could never discover his/her true nature there. Was there some abuse or just neglect to cause such rancor?
3. A wise MC would just cruise right through the city. There's always trouble in river cities, but that's what makes the adventure. If Argose can't save MC, there's always the Dragon to be played as a get out of jail card.