FEEDING THE DOG

The dog lies in the sun, dreaming of that airborne stretch at the top of a leap. Even though she comes in quiet in her sock feet, smelling the way she always does, the dog wakes to greet her. She eats at the counter, standing up, and the dog goes to work on the crumbs that fall at her feet. For a long time after the food is gone, she stares at nothing while the dog sits at her feet, dreaming a new hunger.