Aisles of tables crammed high
Smell of bacon mingling with musky perfume
Morning coughing from the smokers as they
Sneak their fifth one of the day, hunched outside the doors
Coffee scent, the morning sustenance, dominates
The aisle of dollar breakfast booths.
Slinky long dresses promise me admiration
As they shimmy off the hangers to the floor
Colorful pottery chipped by careless buyers
Glitters in the morning sun, begging to host a plant
Tattoo parlors and gun shops, coin and pawn booths
Harley boots and leather vests alongside polished crystals
Nestling in sachets of smudging sage
Layers of masks litter the bargain table
But who cares what they are concealing?
I have an objective in this endless flea market
Crowded with shoppers who walk the aisles disguising
Hopes and dreams and the need to spend money
To make the pain go away.
There she is, waiting for me, I just know she knows
I saw her sitting there last week looking tired and discouraged
Her sister was taken away and she was in mourning
Three months old in a cage quickly becoming too small
I didn’t rescue her last week because I could hear the refrain
“Boycott puppy mills”
But where do these puppies go if we do not rescue them?
Testing labs? Euthanasia-oven-ashes-in-the-trash?
Her eyes haunted me all week and here I am
She is on sale today. When I ask to hold her she gives me her best
Face licking, smiling, staring into my eyes: Take me, please!
And I do.
What a healthy, happy girl she is
Type B, not really interested in living up to her breed
Or her name: Kali the Rat Terrier, the Warrior Goddess?
No. But definitely a sacred clown
Knowing the right laugh buttons to push
Born under the sign of Leo, yes, she is a classic Leo
Happy Terrific Threes birthday, dearest dog Kali
I cannot imagine life without you.
© 2014 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja), Poetry of Memory: Six Decades From the Space-Time Continuum
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