Festus Poem by Thomas Case

When I was a boy on the
farm in Missouri, my Dad got me
a coon-hound pup.
He named him Festus.
Dad was a real Gunsmoke fan.
Festus grew as I did, and we
traveled every inch of that 120 acres.
There were two streams that ran through our
land and a pond south
of the house.
We had lots of cattle and calves, and
Festus would help me
chase them.
When I went to bed at night,
I heard the crickets and
cicadas,
and always Festus way off in
the distance,
howling and barking.
He didn't mind touring
the farm with me,
but he did his best
work on
his own late at night.
Now that I'm an adult and Festus
is long gone, I wonder if anybody
can hear me howl in the darkness.