LIKE DOGS LEFT OUT NEAR THE CRUMBLING ADOBE
LYN LIFSHIN
old dogs people
have dumped left
out in the country
the people soothe
their minds with
thoughts that the
old dogs might
catch a chicken
and 1ive. My
husband and I
would walk around
at sunset the adobe
rose in the last
light rose and
cantaloupe sand
with the dogs
howling the
ones that still
could. My husband
would put his
arms around me
tight tighter
I don't know how
people could be
so cruel he said
how heartless was
30 then my
hair smelled of
pinon and I thought
I'd gotten over
things I was afraid
of 30 years later
and I could be
those dogs I
don't know where
my next meal will
come from
abandoned like
those old sick
dogs my Junior
League card in
my wallet next
to New Mexico
food stamps
