One simple rule
Never, never talk,
Not once, not a word
To that dog
The big one
The one with scars
And torn ears
A crooked tail
The ugly one
The one that stared
Like you were dinner
A survivor of dog fighting?
No, but a fighter with
Anything on four legs
No matter how big or small
Why not talk to it?
You don’t want to know
You definitely do not
Want to find out

Bob Wertzler is retired from almost twenty years in the mental health field in California and Arizona. There are times the title, “Recovering Therapist”, seems to fit. In 2006 he retired to move to Western North Carolina to help and become primary care giver for his father who had developed Dementia. Before all that, there was work at various times as a soldier (US Army 1967-70), community organizer, cab driver, welfare case worker, wooden toy maker, carpenter, warehouse worker, and other things. He relates to a line in a Grateful Dead song, “What a long, strange trip its been.”