The Four-Legged Beast
Ray Ball
When my dog nudges my hand,
I feel the tightness in my chest
expand. Flutter into my throat.
She nudges my hand with her nose,
insisting with a certain baleful,
yet playful, look in her eyes
that I must survive this.
I must fill her bowls with food
and water. I let her and this darkness
into the dim morning shadows
of a suburban backyard and pray
it is only the four-legged beast
who returns to her crate.
Ray Ball, Ph.D., is a writer and history professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. When not in the classroom or the archives of Europe and Latin America, she enjoys running marathons, reading, and spending time with her beagle Bailey. Her poems have recently appeared in Alaska Women Speak, Cirque, Foliate Oak, and NatureWriting. She tweets @ProfessorBall.