My wife puts on classical music for the dogs
when she leaves, hoping it will help them
forgive her absence while she is away.

Sometimes she doesn’t do this for them;
when they pee in the house, for instance.
Though her anger about this sort of thing is brief.

Let me explain:

When she comes through the door
their tails are always furiously wagging,
the universal sign of canine acquittal,
letting her know they hold no grievances.

Their repeated charity captures pieces
of her heart, as she suspects they intend.
Somehow, she says to me, they know it’s working.