LPiA-23 Nov. 1

[CRNDLSM]

Drugging the Dog

I start with turkey in the dark, deli flesh
for a foul pill.

Truth be told, the dog is a better person
than I am,

so each night this week, I center his capsule
in an offering

of meat, roll the ensemble into an antibiotic
stogie — having smuggled

the bottle from the cupboard, the medicine
from the bottle.

Seeing it, the jig would be up. There’s just
enough light

for subterfuge, and to see myself framed
like a hologram

in the kitchen window. If I prayed, I would pray
to this other me —

that someone else is out there, wholly unlike
the two of us,

standing in the dark, outsmarting us all.

I had no idea where this was going, and enjoyed the ride