Margaret and her Puppy Ralph
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUPMargaret and her Puppy Ralph
Margaret dressed her puppy Ralph
in Mom's hot-pink beret.
She draped pink ribbons on his neck
and knelt with him to pray.
He wiggled in her chubby arms
and tried to lick her face
when she dressed him in flannel gowns
adorned with bright pink lace.
But as her puppy Ralph grew up,
he chewed her flannel gown.
He gnawed off Barbie's legs and head—
then knocked poor Margaret down.
He licked her salty tears away
while she curled on the ground,
wept, hiccuped, sobbed, and caterwauled.
So Mom drove to the pound.
And Margaret stared across the seat
and studied like a scholar
the chewed and faded shred of pink
still hanging from Ralph's collar.
Andrew Hudgins teaches at the Ohio State University. His most recent book of poems is Ecstatic in the Poison.
