DOG YEARS

Because she loved them both
Madame Duffand, old and blind,
Left her ill-tempered dog Tonton
To Horace Walpole. History
Does not record how Tonton
Made his way to America
Nor when, anglicizing his name,
He became known as Toto
And terrorized rural Kansas
For some years around 1900.
Living in retirement now
With the Wicked Witch of the West
He occasionally grants interviews
But will not talk about Munchkins,
Winkies, Skeezers, Hyups, Fuddles,
Bun People or Dorothy Gale.