By: Bruce Levine

Feasting on a breakfast of worms
A robin hopped across the wide expanse of lawn.
The rain, over-night, had awakened the worms
And brought them to the surface.

A dog sniffed the grass and gazed at the robin.
Why would a robin want to eat worms?
The dog wondered.
Then the dog looked away
And returned to sniffing.

Normally, when a dog came near,
The robin flew off,
Afraid of the dog.
But today the feast was so good
That the robin just kept eating.

The dog decided that robins weren’t any fun
And certainly not worth barking at.
So he looked at the man
At the other end of the leash,
As if to say,
Let’s go to the park.

The dog loved the park
Because there were so many places to sniff.
The man took off the leash
And the dog wandered away,
Free to roam and sniff.

Then the dog had a thought;
Maybe being a robin wasn’t so bad.
They could roam and sniff for worms all they want,
And when they got bored with one lawn
They could fly off to another.

Then the dog wondered what it was like to fly?
The dog looked up at the sky and the clouds
And thought about flying.
After a few minutes he decided that
He was happy being a dog,
Even if he couldn’t fly.
Dogs got to play with people
And get lots of belly rubs;
And eat real people food,
Not worms.

The dog looked at the robin,
Saw that the robin was still
Hopping across the lawn,
Enjoying her breakfast feast of worms.
People food seems a lot better than worms,
The dog thought.

The dog thought about it again
And decided that he’d rather be a dog.
Then he looked around the park
And went back to sniffing.