Poodle
No picket
fence,
no glimpse of the ocean
from their apartment.
Because they had a northern exposure
and not much sun
and because she couldn't conceive,
she cried a lot.
He went out and spent
his paycheck on a puppy
to please her:
a Poodle with papers
who wouldn't ever go
on the ones laid out
in the kitchen.
She still cried;
he brooded often over Bourbon.
The Poodle,
wooly head on oversized paws,
was mainly ignored.
The dog stayed
under the bed.
Copyright © 2001 Jennifer Poteet
