Byron

This poem is about the relationship between humans and their dogs. It is named after my own dog, Byron.

Shall I believe that you are not like me?

A dog is but a wolf no longer wild,

and though you are a faithful friend, I see,

you are four-footed like no human child,

my boy; and though you answer to the name

the same the brilliant poet reprobate,

there somewhere in my brain is the refrain:

each species God did separately create.

But Wallace fed by spoon his little pet

orangutan, and longed to take her home

to England's soil, where Darwin's tree upset

conventional belief. And I must own:

that when your gaze unblinking holds my eyes

I know our likeness cannot be despised.

Author's Note

Is the reference to Wallace too obscure, or is the point clear anyway? What about "Darwin's tree"? Is that clear?