Legopolis - 1

I wait for Doctor Who to begin as

Barney, our family dog, sleeps

Half-on half-off the fireplace.

He’s old, smelly and snores loudly.

Like the Doctor’s K-9 he is squat

And slow with poor co-ordination.

Being a shoe-in, my brother and I

Cast Barney in plays as the loyal K-9.

But his enthusiasm is questionable –

The Doctor’s counterpart was a slow

But nimble fighter of cosmic evil;

We had Barney.

With Herculean effort he rises on

Stubby legs, his low-hanging belly

Chafed from waddling carpet-burn.

He stretches and scares himself with

A fart before collapsing back down in

Front of the fire.

Cold and tired he falls asleep before

The show begins.

To be fair, he’s not the star he once was.

Mostly he lies at the foot of our fireplace

In a desperate bid to ease his shivers –

What we think is old age will prove to be

Something worse - A fatal bout of distemper;

A sonic screwdriver roughly crafted from a

Stick can’t fix this problem.

But my brother and I try anyway.

I watch from the floor as an iconic theme

Hurtles the Tardis through space and time.

Oblivious to Barney’s irregular breathing, I

Absentmindedly scratch his freckled belly.

If I’d known my little K9 had only days left

I would have shown him more affection.