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| Jacqlynn K. Duquette | Walid Gardezi |
| Rachel Glover | Michael Jacobsohn |
| Pamela Ng | Jennifer Pusey |
To fetch or not to fetch? This question plagues
My waking mind. Would best the world be served
If caught's the stick, or is't more noble to
Ignore the proffered twiglet, answering
To none but mine own self? Oh woe! The strife!
These troubling choices tax my wit to end.
If not the stick chase I, might I not be
Displeasuring my master? He hath fed
And kept me warm through coldest winter's blows,
With naught a charge but hunt and track. What right
Have I to cast aside this small request?
To bite the hand that feeds me would be crime
'Gainst nature, fitting not th'established mold
Of thane to king. T'would be as if the pot,
Whilst lapped I at its pungent waters, were
To slurp me up and flush me down its depths.
To natural servant be, I must obey;
And yet, have I been natural to myself,
Denying primal instinct for a life
In tandem with domestic humankind?
My heart says no. The call of wilds is strong
Above the muffling dust of tameness which
Itself hath sprinkled lib'rally inside
Me. Honor wild's in pit with honor tame,
But no clear victor's in my sight. The stick
Remains a sticking point for me, untouched
Except by dogged contemplation. Oh,
To fetch, perchance to dream...or to mine own
Self true be I? My nose has drièd up
For taxing, painful thoughts which press too hard
And yet I know not if to cross the yard.
~ Jacqlynn K. Duquette
