I am God....
At least, Maxine thinks I am.
The little dog gazes up at me
with soft brown eyes full
of contentment and love
as though I were responsible for
the existence of the earth itself.
She sighs deeply and lays her head
down, as though on this couch
in my lap was the best
place on earth to be.

I haven't the heart to tell her
she is wrong; that I am neither
half the person, nor do I possess
one hundredth the power
of which she is so confident.

I have heard it said that 'dog'
is 'God' spelled backwards.
I think it is the other way around—
that someone first experienced
the unreasoning love of a dog
and realized that was
what God must be like.