Democracy

"Look at those eyes," she warbles,
as I settle myself and my guide
across from her on the bus.
"What kind of dog is that?"
I am about to answer
when a man farther back clears his throat
and says, "Yellow Labrador."
If he's going to speak for me,
at least he knows his breeds.
But he knows more than that --
he knows their innermost lives.
He says, "Saddest dogs in the world."
I wouldn't presume to know that,
but we live in a free country;
people can think what they want.
"Takes six years to train them."
He sounds likes he enjoys
having tidbits of knowledge to share.
There's only one problem; he's wrong:
it's actually more like six months.
Fortunately for him,
we live in a democracy,
where opinion is equal to fact,
and we all have the right to vote.

Daniel Simpson in "Poetry Is a Way of Being in the World That Wasn't Made for Us," by Jennifer Bartlett, The New York Times, August 15, 2018