My pup knows how to wake up 
in the world: Look
how she stands on hind legs,
paws on the sea-wall, watching 
a guy on the beach toss a football 
into the air, catching it again, and again, 
amusing himself as day begins. 
I snap a shot or two with my phone 
of the ball’s rise and decline. 
When the sun pops up, my pup and I walk on.