Sarah 
Meet my mate Mate
Mate, clearly, is based upon Percy my little Zuchon. He's such a sweet boy but really isn't very bright - although he's intelligent enough to know when I'm talking about him!
The purpose of Mate and the illustrations is for my e-pamphlet of poetry I'm bringing out in August. It's a mixture of funnies, like Mate, more profound things like 'Paramedic' and 'Light at the end of the Tunnel'. The biggest challenge is trying to make it look interesting. Initially, the book will be available on reading devices such as Kindle, but I want it to be more 3D so have made the pages look old and doodled upon, as though it were a journal. Well, that is my wish, anyhow!
I'll be looking for advance readers, so if anyone is interested in getting an early copy, please drop me an email ARC@sarahtoll.co.uk
Mate
“Come on” I call to no avail, you firmly sit and stay.
You will not budge, you heave a sigh, then bored, you look away.
Your tongue is out, your black eyes cross, your floppy ears turn down.
It’s clear to see you have no sense, you’re nothing but a clown.
You turn your head this way and that, my orders you don’t get.
Perhaps there’s something wrong with you, perhaps you need a vet?
Come here, sit down, give me your paw. Go fetch - now, let it go.
You fail to understand such play -it’s all stuff you should know.
Don’t bark, don’t jump, don’t steal or beg -you grubby little tike!
These things you seem to do with ease, they’re all the things you like.
You wade through water liquorice black
You smell of God knows what.
You sniff and scratch and chews your toes,
You dribble when you’re hot.
If I say left then you go right, this partnership is dead
The only ‘bark’ you understand is when I call out, bed!
Without a fuss you dive inside your warm and comfy crate
I tuck you in and say night night, my furry-legged mate.
You nest right in and tuck tight down, I love you more and more
My smelly, funny, daft old boy, the one that I adore.
♥
that’s the dog I love and know, you absolutely captured him!
Mate – So familiar, all the quirks and why we love them so very much!
They do wriggle under the skin, don’t they 😀