It’s funny how poems arrive when you least expect them – the wild ones, that is. The opening lines of this one came zinging through my head as I was standing on one leg in the middle of a  yoga posture…

My Pet Ego

I have a pet ego
I keep it on a string
It leaps and snaps at empty air
And snarls at most anything.

It chases after anyone who runs from it in fear
And gets downright annoying when a flea gets in its ear.
It digs away compulsively after every elusive bone
Then refuses to come quietly when I try to bring it home.

Now, you might ask
What is it then that makes me keep this pet?
A question that I ask myself
When things get all upset!

The answer is, if truth be told,
And if you really want to know,
I keep this strange annoying pet
‘Cause it entertains me so!

© Copyright 1998 by Gail Christel Behrend — All Rights Reserved