Private Lines
Jessica Laser
When the vet felt her heart
She felt my heart on the other side
Sorry she said because she had to touch me
To hear my dog’s lung
My dog the doctor
They ignore me. They talk about me
I don’t want to be seen
We go with a special shampoo
She’s bathed once then twice
She’s tiny and easy
But her allergy
No we do not understand animals
The way my dog bonds
We do not
That’s how needy we were yesterday
I wrote in my journal
“How would you describe the yellow bird?”
Others just describe it
Is not yellow enough
She felt my heart on the other side
Sorry she said because she had to touch me
To hear my dog’s lung
My dog the doctor
They ignore me. They talk about me
I don’t want to be seen
We go with a special shampoo
She’s bathed once then twice
She’s tiny and easy
But her allergy
No we do not understand animals
The way my dog bonds
We do not
That’s how needy we were yesterday
I wrote in my journal
“How would you describe the yellow bird?”
Others just describe it
Is not yellow enough
Jessica Laser is the author of Planet Drill and Sergei Kuzmich from All Sides. She lives in California.