All Comments on 'Frost in the Suburbs'

love that dog

This is where rhyme does work IMO. This is light-hearted but more than light verse.

I love the way "And as I drift by" and "all the life I meet" knit the 3 stanzas together, although I might have left out the "And" knowing full well the meter would be compromised. "As I drift by" then I think would have tied together what preceded it (a little lifeless) even with the pause as well as what followed it (along the road). Visually that's not apparent because of the period after "lifeless." However if it were recited, I think that light-heartedness I mentioned would have had greater emphasis.

of unclarity

And as I drift by...

as two outsiders overstepped their mark.

who is the other beside you

But when I look ahead up the white road

There is always another one walking beside you

Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded

I do not know whether a man or a woman

—But who is that on the other side of you?

five ed

Is the old dog the only "old dog" there? And why is the dog shocked by his appearance? Is it the way he looks, or the fact that he's there when the dog didn't expect anyone to be? Aside from the scene you describe, I find your word play delightful!