I AM MOSES
AUTHOR Timir Banerjee , MD
FEATURE
They say I am gallant and magnificent It sounds pompous and conceited But that I am not .
I am large in size but I can move fast I can run half a mile at twenty miles an hour without a stop
I drool a bit while I pant But in matter of moments , I cool down , fast .
I am a Great Pyrenees with white fluffy hair I was rescued from Eastern Kentucky where I was stuck in a miserable affair A side of a hog , every so often was thrown at us As we lived with our siblings in a muddy campus . Now at meal time the farmer sits and prays with me He on a chair with head down and I on my behind sitting and slobbering . He says gratitude is everything .
I know of Argos of Odysseus I want to be loyal and famous I want to be like him in fact . The farmer says that to be famous you have to be with a famous dude You have to do a heroic act And someone has to recognize that And print the story somewhere for others to know So I don ’ t have to promote myself or crow about my perceived prowess .
The farmer says that he has to be a Lincoln for me to be as famous as Fido And he wasn ’ t as famous as the Kentucky born hero But I should be grateful Cause my life had changed Since I came to the farm , Xanadu .
I have at times been playful and goofed on the job Now and then I sit and scratch my ears While watching the sheep and donkeys in pasture
I am incharge of chickens and ducks too How can I be famous if I can ’ t fight off foxes or a bear or two The farmer says doing your job well No matter how menial Makes me famous within . The joy is in self satisfaction of a job well done And that by itself is supposed to be the most pleasant feeling to the one .
I don ’ t like to play go fetch I would rather chase a kite Or scare the hawks that fly I can kill a coyote And carry it to show the farmer So that he can award me an Atta Boy .
I bark at the balloons that make noises So they go higher up as they fly over our farm I think they put more gas to make bigger flames being scared of me Then I run over to the farmer For him to acknowledge my achievements . I am satisfied with a dog biscuit That he often has in his pocket .
I have at times chased the pigs I have sat and watched the peacocks play I have sat with my large head between my front legs And bowed to the big bucks As they graze . The wild turkeys and their babies walk by me I sometimes wonder if I am the best I could be ?
The farmer says I don ’ t have to be Like Charlton Heston with a staff And stand in front of the parting Red Sea I can still be Moses that Ramses loved , Child of Jochebed and be happy , just being me !
Dr . Banerjee is a clinical professor of neurosurgery at the University of Louisville .
MAY 2022 23