Teen Ink

   "Hey, Mom, he followed me home.

Can I keep him?" I called out.

"The darlingest puppy I ever did see -

I think he's taken a liking to me!"

My mother laughed. "We'll see, we'll see.

Meanwhile, don't raise such a shout."



"Hey, Mom, he followed me home.

Can I keep him?" My friend grinned.

He's no more than that, so the joke has a place;

He knows I meant well in that little space.

And asks, as another grin creases his face,

Just how, in the last year, I've been.



Hey, Mom, he followed me home,

Can I keep him? my heart says to me.

I've found love, a guy that I think of each day

(And night, as well, when I kneel down and say:

God, let this love last, please, come what may!)

Can I keep him? What'll that answer be?