All Is Forgiven

They are not our toys but
emerging companions
these two small and dainty
creatures in our home. As
puppies they entered with
the apparent notion that this
house was too civilized for
their impulsive impishness
and speedily set about on a 
determined campaign to
wrest cleanliness and tidiness
from its place in our little
universe. Our displeasure
and scolding served to whet
their appetites toward ever
bolder spurning of household
rules in their eagerness to
bring joyful disorder to
dominate our domicile. Any
opportunity to chew, mangle,
tear and soil floors, clothing,
toys or furniture represented
an irresistible challenge to
their fervid little plotting minds.
Now, still in mature puppyhood
they express their love and
trust in us by nibbling fingers
and toes, licking our faces
with ferocious gusto, and 
trailing us faithfully wherever
we go. Now, it is they who
reproach us if their meals are
late, as they restrain their
impulses, to please the
peculiar values of the giants
with whom they live in a
madcap semblance of harmony.
And all is mutually forgiven.