Poems inspired by time spent with University of Tennessee Police Department Officer Jeffrey Quirin and K-9 Officer Bruno starting July 18, 2018

By Marilyn Kallet


The Poet Meets Bruno

Poetry is my thread 
through the labyrinth. 
Like Bruno, the K-9,
I persist. His reward is a slice
of hot dog. Mine, 
a taste 
of song.



Doggerel

I know someone smarter than you know––
his name is Officer Bruno.
He's K-9, 
this new friend of mine.
His Alpha is Officer Quirin
who is also not fearin'
any bad guys of any size.
I feel protected from foes,
long as I'm near fearless Bruno.
(And as long as he gets his toy back!)
He dreams of hot dogs and so do I.
of picnics without politics, in mid-July. 



Fur Real

Bruno likes to lick
the long arm
of the law
through the half-open
partition 
of the patrol car.
Whoever told us that
humans
and canines
could not be family,
never met Bruno
and Jeffrey,
whose bond is
strong enough to 
leap brick walls
and penetrate haunted drug
houses. 
Nein!
Officer Jeffrey shouts
Platz!
And Killer Bruno
becomes a Buddha
with no hard feelings,
no animosity
toward that cat that
swatted him, 
or toward brave Corporal Cameron,
who played
“the bad guy”
in the “apprehend”
training drill.
Bruno is smarter than
some prominent
politicians, we agree.
Smarter
than those who aim to
divide good people
and good dogs.
That “dog” is God spelled
backwards
has been proven
consistently
on campus 
by the canine squad.
Pity those
who have never been
licked clean
by a loving dog,
like our Brother K-9,
Bruno.