A Man, A Dog

They know one another well as
companions whose mutual regard and
interest links them in a tandem of
dependence and reliability. Each is
concerned with the welfare of the
other. Thoughts transmitted with no
need for verbal or tactile contact as
though the man and the dog share
mind and compulsion. It is not that
touch and the spoken word of their
long vocabulary of intimacy is not
required, just that habit and affection
has fused their sensory attributes with
their need of one another. They are 
each, the man and the dog, visually
extraordinary for each represents a
breed apart, the man's proportions
far in excess of the average and the
dog's presence echoes the man's so
neither fail to stand out in a crowd
yet they are not to be found in a crowd
but rather by preference avoid the
presence of an excess of both dogs
and men. Both were robust specimens
of their type, and each now falters
slightly, as time and age takes the
toll it invariably will, irrespective
of the specimens whose haleness 
is invaded. Now, they lean together.