I’d read that old story about a lady with two dogs
and about how she’d been confined to a wheelchair
and forgotten for many years..
I think they were both mutts but loved with all her heart
you know when people say things like,
they were the only reason I ventured out anymore
bought them big bags of dog food, rested em on her useless legs
and wheeled herself back from the supermarket
I had em since they were little pups
and back then these used to last em months,
now I come back sometimes twice a week she said in her meek voice
I even get a whole chicken for myself to eat
but of course I end up sharing with my boys too
for some reason I wanted to think they were Siberian huskies
you know those clear blue striking eyes the type they say
don’t just look into you but through you
i think that’s just because we had one once ourselves
but that’s probably not what they were
at some point manet got to be a little too old for her trip
arthritis in the joints you know, and she went about cleaning
out the cupboards till those too were bare
and they whined and they begged at her feet
though it made none of their growling stomachs any better
see humans always find the silver lining
in cartoons they start to imagine you like a hotdog with a bun
but the dogs didn’t have that type of imagination
boys will be boys, she said petting their deep black fur
as they licked her lower limbs clean
when the authorities found her cause of the stench weeks later
the dogs had to be put down because they couldn’t get close enough
to check on her, though they probably knew she was dead.
they growled and barked defending her as theyd always done.