My Corgi Digs Up the Petunias to Mozart’s Overture of the Marriage of Figaro

By: Ashley Harris

“Picking the right type of music, at the right time, and for the right task, can be a powerful productivity booster.”—Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, “Can Music Make You More Productive?”,


Harvard Business Review, September 13, 2022

With the first notes


of the cello, the idea


tantalizes, then vibrates, 


and she trembles….


Not at the naughtiness,


but whether she 


might get caught. 



But the violins—


their yes, yes, yes, yes, yes—


hurl her toward the planter


and those chunky paws


plunge into dirt.



Faster, faster, faster


say the flutes


and at full orchestra


her nose chisels in


ahh, the scent


of those roots,


cedar, cinnamon,


mildew—truffle 


to a dog.

The oboe soothes


and she pauses to savor


her tiny triumph 


then the French horn


toots a note of regret.



No time for that


Full orchestra returns


yes, yes, yes, yes, yes again


again and again and again


paws go deeper, dig harder 


yet one vine holds firm—


a scuffle, a tussle, 


what a kerfuffle—


but dog wins today. 



Trumpets ring, 


her heart soars,


no one could do it better, 


she who was born


to slaughter


petunias.



Her ears prick


at the kettledrum


in the coda, and


she collapses,

filthy, 


exhausted,


exhilarated,


wrapped in a ragged


wreath of yellow, 


pink and purple, 


the apotheosis


of the corgi.

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Ashley Harris lives in southwestern Randolph County, North Carolina, surrounded by the mystical Uwharrie Mountains. She is a regular contributor to Living Well on M.S. Bezzy and North Carolina Literary Review and has written on topics such as roses, gardening, fine art and baking. Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, she is also the author of a poetry collection, Waiting for the Wood Thrush (Finishing Line Press 2019). She is currently working on a memoir of linked essays exploring love, faith, and serenity while living with multiple sclerosis. For more, see ashley-harris.com