Spray
my grandma’s standard poodle, Spray
could tell grandma’s cigarettes from Aunt Lynn’s
knew whose slippers to fetch, or which robe
she could speak French, Italian and German
all at the same time, if necessary
in 1967 she appeared on the CBS evening news
with Walter Cronkite, speaking as an expert
on the Vietnam situation, which she likened
to a pack of wild hounds in a yard full of bones
Spray was a notary public, an accomplished
stride pianist and an amateur radio enthusiast
in 1974, after an argument with my grandmother
over the proper cooking time of liver and onions
Spray packed a bag, wrote a farewell note to the family
and walked into the Berkshire County night
28 April 2013
Auburn, AL
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