Cedro - the Dog Who Served His Backyard with Distinction by Megan Baldrige

Cedro by Megan Baldrige.

In 2006, a casual jaunt with my son Jack to the dog shelter turned into a tumultuous ten-year friendship with an irascible, disobedient Black Lab-Chow named Cedro—after a mountain peak near our house in Cedar Crest, New Mexico. In the next few years, my family dispersed, due to divorce and four children’s moves on to college. Cedro and I continued as a family of two who walked together every day, but experienced the world in distinctly different ways. Cedro lived in the moment, and prejudged others strongly by a codified system of judgement: raccoons, poodles and cats were unworthy of respect. Ducks were fair game and Labradoodles were not poodles. Despite many discussions with him about his rush to judge, he never budged an inch. Despite our mutual affection, we challenged each other daily. We each benefitted from our great friendship and we each came to understand the other’s point of view, without ever agreeing. As is true of most dogs with big hearts, Cedro’s life was too short. These poems are my attempt to describe, celebrate and understand my great friend.

Poetry Playhouse Publications

Cover design Denise Weaver Ross

Signed author copy

paperback, 6 x 9, 60 pages

About the author, Megan Baldrige:

I like to write light-hearted but serious poetry about politics, knitting, dogs and gardens. And sometimes garden bugs. I am a retired English teacher, former dog-owner, present knitter and gardener who often thinks of poem ideas in the middle of the night that make me chuckle in the dark. So I write them down the next day and then add to them and add to them, then subtract and winnow, and burnish and polish, and then— there's a poem.

And so a book of poetry is built, over a year.