The dogs dance on the snowy scape,
unsettling the white.
Flakes fly about them
as they bare teeth
and flare tails at one other.
Racing, chasing,
each outpacing the other in turn
only to return to the fold,
they gnash and snarl
and snap and glower
until they are called in

where they submit calmly
to being dried
and plied with snacks
and cried over
for being adorable
and yet such bad girls
for getting so wet
on such a cold day.

It is a cold day
but these creatures
and their play
make it somewhat warmer.