Let me break for a second and read a poem
by a friend of mine.
It's by the poet Jon Anderson, and it's a poem
very much unlike his other poems,
except it has some humor and some sympathy in it.
And it's called "Ye Brothers Dogg."
And Gail and I lived with Jon and his wife
up in Portland, Oregon for several months
several years ago.
And we had a big dog, part Newfoundland, part Labrador,
and he had a giant German shepherd.
We kept getting notices from the dog pound people.
We were having lots of trouble in the neighborhood.
There were lots of female dogs in heat,
so they'd jump the fence.
There was no way of containing them,
and the whole several months was--
We kept our good humor in what happened
to be emotionally difficult times for us
by washing the dogs and treating them as humans.
In the end, it turned out that the dogs were really
reflections of our own characters.
Anyways, it's called Ye--
[LAUGHTER]
It's called "Ye Brothers Dogg," and it's
dedicated to Hodain D. Dogg and Tuli Orlen.
By the way, one more thing, it's written
in a sort of bastardized combination of Middle English
and Bobby Burns Scottish.
"Ye dog O'Toole, who hath not work at love, nor art,
nor goeth school, sayeth with fart at golden rule.
Be it bitch or biscuit or platter stew,
ye palate alone shall guide you.
Ye dog Hodain forgoeth bone, nor doth disdain to moan.
For wind and rain, ye snow and ye seasons, sun, and world
roll on.
But ye days a dog are not long."
[LAUGHTER]
Brothers two, ye slim Hodain and fat O'Toole, beneath fence,
diggeth hole.
[LAUGHTER]
Into ye world ye brothers dance.
Nor would return, ye fat O'Toole and slim Hodain.
Sooner is report, brothers two doth run amok in neighborhood.
[LAUGHTER]
Cautions O'Toole, 'Hodain, ye may bark,
may scowl, and be rude.
But do not bite ye hand what giveth dog food.'
[LAUGHTER]
Though all complain of brothers two, no wind nor rain doth
drive them home.
Then sayeth Hodain to brother, 'O'Toole, though we have been
friends through thick and thin, dog needeth some love from
man.'
So end ye song of brothers two.
Away they had flown, and back they flew.
Reclineth ye yard through seasons and sun,
through wind and rain, ye snow, ye fog.
O'Toole, Hodain, ye brothers dog."
[APPLAUSE]