so
here we are
trying to write while the cat
yowls her nausea
upstairs
i just want to tell her
say to her
explain to her
that this will pass
it’s just a flare-up
it will pass
[i also want to tell myself
say to me
explain in such a way that i believe
that
this will pass
it’s just a flare-up
we have the meds we need
it’s not something different
something insidious
something hidden]
[we should schedule that ultrasound]
vertigo
springs out of nowhere —
nausea
then dizziness
[then both]
[don’t underestimate them
together]
we feel for past kip,
we feel for louka,
we feel for current kip
as they navigate these rough seas,
this daily drammamine
this unknowledge of what will make things
a little better/
a lot worse
[cold packs/movement of any kind/egg drop soup/screens/ginger tea/overheating]
contemplating
how to work in a world
this way
waiting
for a day
when the vertigo might
go away
[go away!]
if you ever have a dog
with the dizzies
(the vertigo)
(the nausea)
(the old dog disease)
(the canine idiopathic vestibular disorder)
know that you can help your dog
replenish her fluids
with ice cubes
(or at least
it’s a little easier
than bringing a bowl of water to her
that she continually,
uncoordinatedly,
backs away from
in fear)
know this, so that you may be able to give your dog plenty of water
within that first 24/48 hours,
rather than being like us
and struggling for each droplet
in rubber bowls and silver spoons and white dishrags on plates
and not thinking of ‘solid water’ until
day three.
signed,
the kips
kipventures 