The Things My Dog Doesn’t Know

Alfie doesn’t know
that if I can’t figure out fractions
I won’t get a good job when I grow up,
or that I need to stop daydreaming and pay attention,
or that I run like a girl,
or that my best friend has a new best friend,
or that Jack invited all the boys in our class to his party
except me.

Alfie knows
that springtime is returning,
the earthworms are stirring,
the starlings are whirling,
and his Boy is the perfect person
to run out into the middle of it all with him,

so we do.