What the Dog Saw

Paw prints in sugar-white sand,
One-way trip to the sea.
She gathered her toys,
The piece of the fence she chewed off,
A pink sock she had hidden for months,
And a strip of bark from the orange tree,
Leaving them all in her duct-taped bed
For some new dog who could take the trauma.

She did not concern herself
With abandoning him,
Having seen how easily love can be erased.

She closed her eyes
And felt the water
Fill her ears and lungs
And remembered the days of walking in the sun,
A woman singing in the shower
And laughter too long ago.