Abstract
Black Dog Cathy Lentes (bio) She has pared her lifeto essentials.Heart failing,each breath taken seriously,walking is not mandatoryexcept for brief tripsout the kitchen doorto pee in the snowy garden.This effort requireshours of sleep to recover.Kibble holds no interest;a chicken breast,the last chunk of roast beef in gravy,hand-fed bites of lamb and riceher dueafter faithful yearsretrieving anything we threw.She knows what mattersat the endand positions herselfnear doorwaysso her humansmust bow downto pet her as they pass.Her sad eyessay stop,sit, stay,and we dropobedient before herto stroke her white chin and greying ears, [End Page 100] the weight of all our daysrising and falling, rising and fallingwith her chest. [End Page 101] Cathy Lentes Cathy Lentes’s work has appeared in Appalachian Heritage, Now & Then, Riverwind, Blueline, and many other journals and anthologies. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Solstice Program of Pine Manor College in 2013. Copyright © 2015 Berea College
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