---

 

This writing was accepted for publication in the 108-page perfect-bound ISSN#/ISBN# issue/paperback book “Clear Lake” cc&d, v343, the 3/24 issue Order the 6"x9" paperback book:

Order this writing in the book In the Moment the cc&d January - April 2024 magazine issues collection book		get the 426-page January - April 2024 cc&d magazine 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

Ode #1 to The Raggies

Kenneth DiMaggio

Because this is Connecticut and not
Alabama: White Trash is given
the more colorful name of “Raggies”

Folks like Uncle Sammy
dressed in threadbare jungle
camos and pushing a miniature
American flag-draped shopping cart
filled with his prized possessions:
an old cardboard box containing
his latest yapping rescues

dogs saved from the dog-fighting pit
dogs abandoned from families
evicted to no-canine tenements
dogs been to hell & back and
never again now that Sam saved
them (but not their lost eye
or chawed off ear)

Some say he and his colony live
along a river booby-trapped with
Vietnam era spear-headed sticks

others say it’s in an old Fruehauf trailer
guarded by a few snarling dogs
tripled like Cerberus

Pitbulls or chihuahuas:
when Sam sings to them
they stop barking and listen

as do the locals even if
they will never admit

how amazing is the grace
sung to the beasts after
they have been rescued

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...