They say the old teachers used to gather at Kynosarges.

The Silver Hound.

Long before the screens lit up the dark.

Long before the algorithms started feeding on our fear.

Back when a man could just look at a dog and see the absolute truth of things.

No arguments.

No manufactured outrage.

Just the breath in the lungs, and the dirt under the paws.

The morning is breaking now.

The digital ghosts are howling at the walls, but out here...

Out here, the hound is awake.

And he does not care about your politics.

He only cares that the sun is warm.

And the yard needs walking.

Let us go.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

The alarm clock stutters in the morning gray

I reach out my hand just to push it away

Got a head full of static from the news last night

Trying to hide my eyes from the early light

But there's two cold noses pushing under my arm

A breathing, beating, furry double-alarm

They say get up, get up, the sun is on the floor

There is a whole wide world just outside the door

Yesterday's anger is a ghost in the head

You cannot catch the morning if you stay in the bed

So leave the heavy burdens where the shadows are drawn

And wake up to a wet nose at dawn

I see the screen flashing on the stand by the wall

Another manufactured crisis, another digital brawl

But their backends are wiggling a much better beat

A steady, happy rhythm for eight hurried feet

They don't need to scroll to know the day is fine

They've got the scent of the dirt and the dew on the pine

They say get up, get up, the sun is on the floor

There is a whole wide world just outside the door

Yesterday's anger is a ghost in the head

You cannot catch the morning if you stay in the bed

So leave the heavy burdens where the shadows are drawn

And wake up to a wet nose at dawn

Why do I fight the waking?

Why do I dread the light?

When the only thing that matters

Is stepping out of the night.

So I lace up my boots and I open the screen

Let them hit the seven acres, wild and green

Leave the phone on the charger, let it preach to the peace

Out here in the dirt, there's no need for a leash

Leave the shadows where they're drawn.

To a wet nose at dawn.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

Seven acres wrapped in the morning fog

It is a heavy load for a working dog

But the boys are out, tearing through the wet grass

Checking every shadow that the old trees cast

I am sitting on the porch with a glowing screen

Looking at a war that I have never seen

My mind is bleeding out on the digital wire

While they are sniffing out the perimeter tire

Oh, the perimeter check, keeping the devil at bay

Securing the borders of the physical day

They do not care about the suits in the halls

Or the panic that is climbing up the city walls

They got their backends wiggling and their noses down

Guarding the only truth in this rural town

Yeah, the world is burning on the internet

But the yard is safe and the lines are set

I am carrying the weight of a broken land

With a plastic rectangle burning in my hand

Worrying about the things that I cannot control

Letting the algorithmic fear eat a hole in my soul

But Rufus hits the gate and Marcus takes the right

They are pushing back the remnants of the cold, dark night

They only fight the battles they can actually win

Where the forest ends and the home begins

Oh, the perimeter check, keeping the devil at bay

Securing the borders of the physical day

They do not care about the suits in the halls

Or the panic that is climbing up the city walls

They got their backends wiggling and their noses down

Guarding the only truth in this rural town

Yeah, the world is burning on the internet

But the yard is safe and the lines are set

You cannot fix a system from a thousand miles away

You have to hold the ground where you actually stay

Look at the hounds, they understand the load

They never try to carry the whole damn road

Hold the line.

Walk the wire.

Leave the world to the fire.

The yard is safe today.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

I brought my worries out into the yard

Trying to figure out why living feels so hard

A pocket full of silicon and a head full of noise

Standing in the pasture with my two good boys

I pull a yellow tennis ball from out of my coat

And every single anxiety catches in my throat

Because Marcus is watching with a laser eye

Waiting for the rubber to meet the sky

Oh, the ball is the ball, and the moment is now

There is no yesterday, there is no anyhow

When the sphere takes flight in the morning air

The rest of the universe just isn't there

No bills to pay, no wars to win

Just the perfect geometry of the spin

Yeah, the ball is the ball, and the world falls away

It's a masterclass in how to live today

I let it fly across the rural green

The fastest sprint that you have ever seen

Rufus is a missile tracking down the prize

With a single-minded focus burning in his eyes

He doesn't care about the algorithmic feed

He is operating purely on velocity and speed

He teaches me the secret of the quiet mind

Leave the fractured, shattered human thoughts behind

Oh, the ball is the ball, and the moment is now

There is no yesterday, there is no anyhow

When the sphere takes flight in the morning air

The rest of the universe just isn't there

No bills to pay, no wars to win

Just the perfect geometry of the spin

Yeah, the ball is the ball, and the world falls away

It's a masterclass in how to live today

We build a million screens to split our attention

Living in a state of permanent suspension

But look at the hound running over the earth

He knows exactly what the present is worth

Throw the ball.

Watch it fly.

Let the digital ghosts just die.

The ball is the ball.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

I clip the braided nylon to the metal ring

He doesn't fight the collar or the tethered string

To him it isn't bondage, it's a guarantee

A solid, grounding limit to reality

While I am always raging at the system's weight

He finds a perfect freedom in a finite state

Oh, the tether and the radius, the circle in the dirt

When you pull against the collar, you only cause the hurt

There are forces in the machinery we cannot over-ride

So you learn to love the boundary and find the peace inside

Yeah, the leash is not a prison, it's a designated space

The tether and the radius, the quiet kind of grace

I've spent my life complaining 'bout the economic chain

The algorithms feeding on the dopamine and pain

We pull against the iron till we choke out all the breath

Fearing every limit, and terrified of death

But Marcus walks beside me on a six-foot slack

He doesn't need to carry all the world upon his back

Oh, the tether and the radius, the circle in the dirt

When you pull against the collar, you only cause the hurt

There are forces in the machinery we cannot over-ride

So you learn to love the boundary and find the peace inside

Yeah, the leash is not a prison, it's a designated space

The tether and the radius, the quiet kind of grace

Love the fate you're given, love the boundary of the line

You cannot engineer the stars or alter the design

Just walk the given circle, and let the system hum

The only true rebellion is accepting what has come

Walk the circle.

Love the line.

Find the freedom.

In the radius.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

The heavy wooden frame clicks shut against the lock

The silence settles in around the ticking of the clock

I am heading into town to buy some lumber and some feed

But they don't understand the schedule or the human need

Two faces at the window as the engine starts to whine

They have to trust the rhythm of the maker by design

Oh, the other side of the door is a heavy, empty space

Where the panic tries to steal away the quiet kind of grace

It is the hardest kind of labor just to wait upon the floor

And trust that love is coming from the other side of the door

I think about the human heart when the universe goes cold

When the heavens seem so quiet and the spirit's growing old

We tear up the upholstery and we howl into the dark

We let the separation anxiety extinguish every spark

But Marcus holds his station and Rufus rests his head

They choose to keep the faith instead of giving in to dread

Oh, the other side of the door is a heavy, empty space

Where the panic tries to steal away the quiet kind of grace

It is the hardest kind of labor just to wait upon the floor

And trust that love is coming from the other side of the door

You have to hold the center when the master goes away

You cannot let the shadows take the meaning from the day

The truck is rolling down the drive, but the tether hasn't broke

The silence isn't permanent.

Keep the faith.

Hold the floor.

Trust the handle.

On the door.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

My son brought his dog up to visit the farm

When the barometric pressure started sounding the alarm

The sky turned bruised above the Cascade line

And the old girl started her shivering whine

She hid herself away deep beneath the chair

Terrified of the static in the air

She can't comprehend that the timber is strong

She just knows the thunder is loud and it's long

Oh, the thunder in the distance

Is a terrifying sound

When you don't understand the physics of the ground

The hound is just a victim of an ancient, primal fear

But what is my excuse for the panic I hold here?

I'm shaking at a screen, jumping at the flash

Waiting for a manufactured system to crash

The dog will not settle till the storm is far away

She'll tremble in the shadows for the better part of the day

It breaks my heart to watch her, 'cause she cannot turn it off

But I'm sitting on the sofa making myself soft

Scrolling through the outrage, mainlining the dread

Letting digital thunder echo in my head

They engineer the lightning, they syndicate the rain

They monetize the friction, and they capitalize the pain

The hound is trapped by nature, and she cannot make it stop

But the man is trapped by choice, buying what they drop

Oh, the thunder in the distance

Is a terrifying sound

When you don't understand the physics of the ground

The hound is just a victim of an ancient, primal fear

But what is my excuse for the panic I hold here?

I'm shaking at a screen, jumping at the flash

Waiting for a manufactured system to crash

Turn off the screen.

Let the thunder roll.

The dog can't help it.

But you can save your soul.

The thunder in the distance.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

The afternoon is ticking like a metronome

The shadows stretch across the floorboards of the home

Rufus finds the golden square upon the rug

And settles down as happy as a winter bug

When the earth rotates and leaves him in the gray

He just gets up and moves to where the sunbeams play

He doesn't have a ledger, he hasn't got a boss

He doesn't measure resting as a financial loss

Oh, the sunbeam drifter, moving with the light

He isn't trying to hustle or put up a fight

We measure out our value by the sweat and by the bone

But he knows how to leave the heavy machinery alone

Yeah, he's a master of the quiet and the slow

Just a sunbeam drifter with nowhere else to go

I sit down in the armchair and I close my eyes

And the guilt starts welling up like a dark surprise

A voice inside the programming says I should be at work

That sitting in the quiet is a duty that I shirk

We built a giant engine that demands an endless feed

And traded in our peace of mind to satisfy the greed

They tell you that your worth is what your hands can make

That every single minute is a profit you must take

But the warmth upon your face is completely free

And it's the only thing that matters in the end, you see

Oh, the sunbeam drifter, moving with the light

He isn't trying to hustle or put up a fight

We measure out our value by the sweat and by the bone

But he knows how to leave the heavy machinery alone

Yeah, he's a master of the quiet and the slow

Just a sunbeam drifter with nowhere else to go

Follow the light.

Rest in the gold.

Leave the hustle to the world.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

I've got a bottle of the good rye sitting on the shelf

I've been saving it for a victory to celebrate myself

But the years keep on rolling and the cork is getting dry

While I'm waiting for the perfect day to fall out of the sky

We put the joy on layaway and leave it in the store

Always thinking that tomorrow is gonna offer something more

Well my mother had the fine china with the painted silver rim

She kept it in the cabinet till the day her eyes went dim

We ate our meals off paper plates while the porcelain just sat

I guess she thought the afterlife was going to cater that

It is a tragic human habit, it's a foolish kind of sin

To build a beautiful museum that you never wander in

Oh, don't save the good bones, don't bury the prize

You cannot take it with you when you close your tired eyes

The hound upon the porch knows exactly what to do

When you hand him down a marrow bone, he bites it clean in two

He doesn't have a pension or a shiny savings plan

He just enjoys the marrow like a sensible old man

I brought a butcher's knuckle out to Rufus on the grass

I didn't tell him he should save it for the years that slowly pass

He didn't dig a hole to try and hedge against the cold

He just laid there in the sunshine and he cracked the center gold

He hasn't got a calendar, he hasn't got a clock

He just knows the bowl is full and he's the king upon the block

Oh, don't save the good bones, don't bury the prize

You cannot take it with you when you close your tired eyes

The hound upon the porch knows exactly what to do

When you hand him down a marrow bone, he bites it clean in two

He doesn't have a pension or a shiny savings plan

He just enjoys the marrow like a sensible old man

So pour the heavy whiskey, and serve it on the plates

Stop acting like the warden of your own neglected gates

The future is a rumor that the devil likes to tell

So you better chew the marrow while your teeth are doing well

Eat the good food.

Drink the good wine.

Don't save the china.

You're doing just fine.

Don't save the good bones.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

I walk into the house and drop my heavy coat

There is a lump of modern sorrow catching in my throat

A million people screaming on the digital machine

But everybody's starving right behind the screen

I sit down in the chair and stare into the dark

And listen to the quiet of the rural park

The hound walks over gently, understanding what it takes

To fix the kind of circuit that the lonely world breaks

Oh, the head upon the knee, the heavy resting chin

When the isolation tells you that the dark is gonna win

There is no need for talking, there is nothing left to say

Just the sympatheia pulling all the bitter ghosts away

He doesn't have a cure for the algorithmic lies

But he offers up the anchor of his ancient, quiet eyes

I feel the gentle weight pressing on my faded jeans

A physical defiance to the glowing little screens

They engineer the platforms just to keep us all apart

To capitalize the fracture in the human heart

But a dog relies on presence, the bridging of the space

The undeniable reality of breathing in your face

You cannot heal a system with a complicated word

You heal it when the silence is finally being heard

The weight of the connection, the warmth upon the bone

It is the only way to know you aren't dying all alone

Oh, the head upon the knee, the heavy resting chin

When the isolation tells you that the dark is gonna win

There is no need for talking, there is nothing left to say

Just the sympatheia pulling all the bitter ghosts away

He doesn't have a cure for the algorithmic lies

But he offers up the anchor of his ancient, quiet eyes

Rest the heavy head.

Bridge the empty space.

The hound will hold the line.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

We draw a heavy line right through the digital sand

Fighting over pieces of a fractured land

A million little boxes on a glowing screen

Feeding on the anger in the dark machine

But the pack is all, and the pack is near

You don't need a password to belong right here

We share the same water and we share the same bone

In the physical world, you are not alone

They sell us all a banner and a team to hate

Tell us that our neighbor is the enemy's gate

We measure out our loyalty by who we attack

But that ain't how it works inside the dog's own pack

Oh, the pack is all, and the pack is near

You don't need a password to belong right here

We share the same water and we share the same bone

In the physical world, you are not alone

Just the breath in the room, just the warmth of the side

No algorithm telling us we need to divide

If you're standing in the yard, then you're one of the hounds

That is the only way the real grace abounds

Yeah, the pack is all, and the pack is near

You don't need a password to belong right here

We share the same water and we share the same bone

In the physical world, you are not alone

Turn off the screen.

Come sit by the fire.

The pack is all.

Leave the ghosts on the wire.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

The little screen is flashing on the table by the door

Somebody dragging up a grievance from a decade before

They cast a line into the digital dark

Hoping they can get the old machinery to spark

I feel the heat rising up inside my chest

The human ego demanding a test

Oh, let sleeping dogs lie in the dust and the shade

You do not have to sharpen up a rusting old blade

The trap is set with the friction and the bait

But you can just walk away and leave it to the gate

Yeah, let the ghosts do their howling in the digital night

You do not have to bleed for a manufactured fight

Now if Marcus hears a rustle out by the old wood shed

He will raise up the pack and he will wake the dead

A dog will meet a danger if it's standing in the grass

But he never holds a grudge when the shadows finally pass

He doesn't pull up a grievance from a decade before

Or drag a dead argument back to the door

When the fight is all done, he returns to the heat

While I am picking at a scar on a digital street

Oh, let sleeping dogs lie in the dust and the shade

You do not have to sharpen up a rusting old blade

The trap is set with the friction and the bait

But you can just walk away and leave it to the gate

Yeah, let the ghosts do their howling in the digital night

You do not have to bleed for a manufactured fight

They want you to remember every terrible word

They want every old anger to be seen and be heard

But a dog knows the value of letting it rest

And leaving the past in the dirt's quiet chest

Oh, let sleeping dogs lie in the dust and the shade

You do not have to sharpen up a rusting old blade

The trap is set with the friction and the bait

But you can just walk away and leave it to the gate

Yeah, let the ghosts do their howling in the digital night

You do not have to bleed for a manufactured fight

LEAVE IT!

Let it go

DROP IT!

In the dirt

Let the sleeping dogs lie.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

The silver rock is hanging in the cold midnight

Bathing all the timber in a ghostly light

A dog is standing out beyond the wire fence

Howling at the heavens at his own expense

The lunar dust is silent and it has no ear

It doesn't care about the anger or the fear

It just keeps on tracing out an ancient line

While the hound is wasting all his finite time

Oh, barking at the moon, screaming at the sky

Watching all your precious minutes bleed and pass you by

The stone is cold and empty, it doesn't know your name

You're pouring all your spirit down a hollow, losing game

Yeah, the universe is quiet and the stars are out of tune

When you spend your only lifetime just barking at the moon

I am sitting in the parlor in the pale blue glow

Watching all the phantoms on the late night show

I'm shouting at the anchor and the talking head

Trading in my peace for a heavy dose of dread

But the glass is just a mirror and the circuit board is dead

It doesn't hear a single angry word I said

I am feeding my own shadow to the digital machine

Just another lonely howler yelling at the screen

Oh, barking at the moon, screaming at the sky

Watching all your precious minutes bleed and pass you by

The stone is cold and empty, it doesn't know your name

You're pouring all your spirit down a hollow, losing game

Yeah, the universe is quiet and the stars are out of tune

When you spend your only lifetime just barking at the moon

We build a million towers just to reach the dead of space

But we cannot find a mirror that will show our human face

So we stand out in the darkness and we make a lot of noise

Just a bunch of broken people playing with our broken toys

Oh, barking at the moon, screaming at the sky

Watching all your precious minutes bleed and pass you by

The stone is cold and empty, it doesn't know your name

You're pouring all your spirit down a hollow, losing game

Yeah, the universe is quiet and the stars are out of tune

When you spend your only lifetime just barking at the moon

Save your breath.

Let the moon roll on.

Turn off the glass.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

The sun is sinking lower in the western sky

I watch the golden shadows as they multiply

I picture Shady resting on her heavy paws

She lived her life by quiet, ancient laws

She loved the Cedar River, running cold and free

Now it is Shady's River, flowing out to sea

Oh, the old gray muzzle in the fading light

There was a quiet beauty in her coming night

Her joints had gotten stiff and her pace was slow

But there was so much wisdom that she used to show

Her eyes were shining bright with an honest grace

Just a perfect love written on a weathered face

She was mostly gray when she was just a pup

Until the years rolled on and filled the measure up

She gave her name to the homestead and the songs I write

A steady, quiet anchor in the fading light

She wasn't scared of shadows or the end of day

She took her finite time and gave it all away

Oh, the old gray muzzle in the fading light

There was a quiet beauty in her coming night

Her joints had gotten stiff and her pace was slow

But there was so much wisdom that she used to show

Her eyes were shining bright with an honest grace

Just a perfect love written on a weathered face

I spend my human life terrified of age

Fighting every turning of the mortal page

But she just saw the twilight as a place to rest

A quiet, earned reward for giving it her best

Oh, the old gray muzzle in the fading light

There was a quiet beauty in her coming night

Her joints had gotten stiff and her pace was slow

But there was so much wisdom that she used to show

Her eyes were shining bright with an honest grace

Just a perfect love written on a weathered face

I told her, "Good girl."

Rest your eyes.

Her day was done.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

The Cedar River's quiet as the daylight slips away

The living room is settling at the closing of the day

I watch her sleeping quietly upon the braided rug

Wrapped in craftsman timber, keeping everything so snug

She never worried once about the kingdom or the crown

She just held the perimeter and laid her body down

Oh, she is just a good girl, resting by the fire

She didn't build a monument or string a digital wire

She didn't need a philosophy to understand the wood

She just lived the way she ought to live, and she was good

Yeah, the highest kind of calling in the setting of the sun

Is knowing you were faithful till the walking day was done

We spend our human lifetimes chasing phantoms in the dark

We trade our flesh and bone to leave a temporary mark

We argue with the algorithms, staring at the glass

While the seasons and the rivers and the quiet moments pass

But she just watched the property and waited by the door

She knew exactly what the breathing and the beating heart were for

Oh, she is just a good girl, resting by the fire

She didn't build a monument or string a digital wire

She didn't need a philosophy to understand the wood

She just lived the way she ought to live, and she was good

Yeah, the highest kind of calling in the setting of the sun

Is knowing you were faithful till the walking day was done

There is no great equation and there is no hidden prize

Just the unconditioned mercy in a cattle dog's eyes

She lived exactly as the maker drew the quiet plan

The finest kind of wisdom in the weary world of man

Oh, she is just a good girl, resting by the fire

She didn't build a monument or string a digital wire

She didn't need a philosophy to understand the wood

She just lived the way she ought to live, and she was good

Yeah, the highest kind of calling in the setting of the sun

Is knowing you were faithful till the walking day was done

Sleep well, Shady.

The fire is warm.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

You grumble in the morning light, a happy little sound

Staring right into my soul until the treats are found

You waddle like a little queen, demanding I keep pace

With a funny kind of majesty written on your face

Tongue out, belly up, the whole room smells like you

Floor cuddles, same old stories, nothing better we could do

My whole world orbits round the way you feel today

Just trying to keep the shadows and the creeping cold away

And when you jump, I will catch you

Every time, however far

You do not even wait, you just trust the hands

Because you know exactly who we are

Yes, the world is loud and heavy, but right here in the blue

Luna tuna, I will always catch you

We used to chase the blowing wind, no time to sit and rest

But now we share the wooden bench, and turns out this is best

Watching all the people pass on a summer night breeze

Learning how to love the quiet and the iffy knees

Tongue out, belly up, the whole room smells like you

Floor cuddles, same old stories, nothing better we could do

My whole world orbits round the way you feel today

Just trying to keep the shadows and the creeping cold away

And when you jump, I will catch you

Every time, however far

You do not even wait, you just trust the hands

Because you know exactly who we are

Yes, the world is loud and heavy, but right here in the blue

Sweet pollita, I will always catch you

Someday I will not catch you in time

Someday this silence will break my mind

But some things do not shatter, even when I do

This bond is a tether that is pulling me through

Thank you for the patience, thank you for the light

I will hold your heavy head into the coming night

So when you jump, I will catch you

Every time, however far

You do not even wait, you just trust the hands

Because you know exactly who we are

Yes, the world is loud and heavy, but right here in the blue

Little Luna, I will always catch you

You changed my life.

I love you.

You will be alright.

I will catch you.

Rest now, baby.

© 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.