Mad Dog

[Red-Headed]

He was just an old man
who’d come out for a pint
on the Bank Holiday.

Bent almost double
he walked with a metal walking stick,
the sort they give you at the hospital.

He was wearing black trainers
and a beige Harrington jacket.

Slowly and shakily
he walked out
to the beer garden,
pint in one hand, stick in the other.

A mad dog ran up to him and barked,
he said nothing as it hounded him.
Just limped to a table
and drank his beer.

Shakespeare claimed that dogs barked at Richard III.
I think that he had a disability as well.

[cafolini]

Richard was a good king and he was English. Shakespeare knew all about barking because he was the mad dog. He also was a monkey signifying nothing.

[Red-Headed]

Edward V & Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York may beg to differ. I suppose no one will ever really know. I doubt Shakespeare was a monkey. They don't know how to sharpen quills.

[Haunted]

There's a lot packed in here. The parallel to Richard III is particularly striking. Sad sad sad ending as we now know, and ironic. The mad dog and englishman reference also adds curiosity to the poem. I think it's put together really well, except for the last line, which is a bit clunky. you can probably lose "I think". Maybe something understated, like "he too had a disability", for a better effect.

[Red-Headed]

Yeah, the last line is awkward. I nearly called the poem 'Mad dog & an Englishman' LOL.