at the end of a bad year. Trees begin
to outnumber houses. Rain turns to snow
as fields hang like paintings.

Once loyal to a cruel master,
the dog moves like a man who
not so long ago weighed a lot less

The dog weighs twelve pounds
and uses them as she pleases.
The king-size bed is not big enough.

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—