June 21, 2026

here
is all the dog fur
you could ever want

and then some

and then some more
and more and more and more and more
until it’s everywhere
until you’re sick of it
until you’re breathing it in and sneezing it out
every morning
every night
until you realize your wardrobe has shifted to black
right around the time you got a white and tan dog
and her fur is everywhere
you try to hug her
it’s on your body
you try to fold laundry
whoops, you placed that shirt on the bed
which is where she sleeps
which is covered in dog fur
you try to cuddle up with a blanket
spend time with your spouse
walk around your house
and you
your clothes
your body
your socks
are so coated in dog fur
if you happen to walk in stocking feet
elsewhere
you leave footprints of dog fur
where ever you pass

but this dog is so good
you wouldn’t give her up
for anything

[but maybe we could give her a bath
every once in a while…]

June 14, 2026

i feel like i’m coasting
sliding around in
almost-depression-land
and i can’t tell what’s
keeping me relatively afloat —
is it having theatre again?
is it my kip? my cat? my dog?
is it my brain chemistry/hormone levels finally calming and settling?
is it the summer heat?
or the summer sunlight?
is it the medication whose only job is to keep the depression from overtaking me?
is it some combination of all of these?

but it’s so strange to feel
the slippery sliding that usually means
an approach to a worse and worse time
but then feeling overall mildly okay

April 1, 2026

a moment
with a stray cat
yelling at me as i looked past the spot
i usually check
for cats

a moment
with a hawk
screeching over my head
and actually seeing it
soar
away

a moment
with all the birds
who eat the cat food we put out for the strays,
the starlings and mockingbirds and robins and wrens and blue jays
[would they all actually eat the bird food
if we put up a bird feeder, or is purina
always going to be their
meal of choice?]

a moment
with our silly dog
whining at all the other
canines walking past

a moment
with squirrels
with skunks
with raccoons and possums at night
with rats along the indoor subway line
and the pigeons flocking outside

i cannot express what it means
to me
to have all these animals around us
and
get to take advantage of living inside the city

the bronx is truly a beautiful place

February 6, 2026

something that doesn’t get enough love
is how dogs show their love
through leans

the bearing of their weight
by the side of my leg
makes me feel like i
am supporting this whole dog’s
whole heart
whole mental health
by my lonesome

and she’s choosing it

[what a damn honor
to be a human
that a dog loves]

November 20, 2025

evening poems
while william shatner
tells me all the unexplained mysteries
i should care about

but i simply
don’t

~~~

big yawns
and split-up sleep
and hopefully getting
the cat to eat
or take her meds
at least

[almost done with this trip
and i’m so excited to sleep
in my own bed
once again]

~~~

but seeing people has been absolutely lovely —
i wouldn’t exchange that
for anything

[even eight uninterrupted hours]

February 14, 2025

our dog has become
the neediest little puppy
in this, her third year

and perhaps it is simply because
she is not doctor-ordered to
not
follow us upstairs
and jump in beds
and leap on laps

or perhaps she has gotten used to us
and what we will allow
and what we
won’t

but my goodness
the amount of barks for playtime
and dances for attention
and literal time spent in my lap
[yes, this 45-pound dog
sits in my lap
while i sit
on a dining room chair]
has most definitely increased
within this past
year

January 2, 2025

Computer has officially
exited her shark era;
turning a solid three-years-old,
she is no longer a puppy who will bite
everything she can get her teefies on.
so we celebrated by having a long walk
in her shark halloween costume,
playing in the park
with her best dog friend,
and getting an ice cream
and a new shark toy
once home again.
and she celebrated the way she does
every other day —
by being the happiest,
most tail-waggedy,
puppiest puppy
we’ve ever seen.

[even if the shark era has ended, i believe
the puppy era will continue on
forever]

September 10, 2024

interesting
interesting
i wrote but i didn’t post
yesterday

i wonder what that means
i wonder what that means

and the puppy just freaked out and boof-howled
but she hadn’t done that with Kip not around

i wonder what that means

and the cat has been perching on my lap
far more in the last couple of weeks
than since we lost Louka

i think i might know what that means

and additionally
i feel like
my writing has gotten
so
much
worse
lately

i wonder
what
that
means

October 14, 2023

golden sun
on a golden dog
in a golden human’s house

(but she may be the silver sliver of a ghost now)

(i wonder if ghosts ever fill
their transparent selves
with the amber hue
of gold)