July 26, 2025

that was
the greatest part of my morning

the greatest morning

a cat on my lap
enjoying the scritches
from my left hand

and a puppy at my feet
leaning into me
enjoying the scritches from my
right hand

and though i got no writing done
and it only lasted about ten minutes

i was in a blissful heaven
the whole time

July 9, 2025

a family
a train ride
and thousands of sunflowers
in fields rolling past
at 266 km/h

and somehow it all reminds me of
van Gogh’s paintings
and how much i want to become
an impressionist

~~~

i just got so confused
as to why the baby in front of me
wasn’t crying in response to the
baby crying in the next train car over

and then i remembered that babies are not dogs
who bark and howl to be heard by others
of their species…

~~~

this whole trip
is a whirlwind

this whole life
kind of is
too

at least i have a train car
inside which to sit and write
all my silly poems

~~~

every
single
time
another train passes directly by
i
am
startled

~~~

there are
so many more palm trees
than i ever would have expected
in Europe

[i think that’s on me tho,
because climate is a known thing]

~~~

i think
if you’ve seen
any
van Gogh painting
of nature
or landscape

you’ve seen the full spirit of
what these trains speed past

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

February 7, 2025

at least our animals exist

i don’t know how much of the outside world
i could survive
knowing about,
if i didn’t have giant puppy dog eyes
and happy puppy tails
and gentle cat purrs
and quaint cat meows
and wonderful little animal cuddles
to come home to every day
[or even stay home with
when the world is too much]

[how in the world do folks without pets
(and with depression)
survive?]

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 5, 2024

when we first met
kip wasn’t sure
if they’d be able to be with me
long term
because i insited that i
didn’t like
dogs

but as they got to know me,
they saw how much i loved all animals
no matter what, so then they
started to share stories
of dogs being so good
and introducing me
to dogs here and there
and observing
and guiding
until the concept of us getting a dog
was raised, and i said “maybe”
that maybe, after volunteering with a shelter, became a “probably”
and then a “yes” with so many caveats
and then a “yes” with a couple of caveats
and by the time we helped Louka into our lives
those caveats were gone
and now i can’t even say whether i’m a dog or a cat person
in black and white terms
because i love all cats and all dogs
so so so so so so much

and i am so thankful to my kip
and my dogs
for teaching me just how wonderful
dogs are

September 10, 2023

it’s still so wild to me
that i can miss the puppy stage —
with all the tiny pounces,
and bumbling bounces,
and round face,
soft fur,
clumsy,
smol, smol creature;
and yet
see the videos/
want to cuddle
but prefer our puppy as she is now —
grown in to her scruffy self,
developed such a strong personality,
knowing her toys,
showing her smarts,
happy smiles,
looking to us
(her family)
for support.

puppies are incredibly cute,
but dogs are where
it’s at for me.