Reclaiming Our Dog
Judith Taylor Graham
You spent two nights here
(ward @ $90.00) and sport a buzz
on your butt (no charge) and shaved
front legs (the catheters and all).
Anyone who cares can read your spine
In white-on-black myelogram ($230.00,
Not to mention the spinal fluid, x-ray
Thorax, anesthesia level 4). A vet-
In-training scratches your left ear,
You smile. Meanwhile we pay
The front-desk bill, which could
Support a family of four.
We shake hands all around,
The white-coats with their charts
And stethoscopes who saved you.
And now you trot along beside us
Out the door. Not the same
As always, not unscathed. Maybe
Not as good. But dearer.
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