Poem: Walking the dog

Walking the dog

John L. Wright, MD


She weighed

three hundred pounds.

Fat and high sugars

were killing her,

I thought.

So,

I thought.

So,

I gave her a puppy

with dark curly hair;

nothing else

had worked.

Walking the dog

twice a day,

I thought

might persuade,

might motivate.

She was pleased

with my prescription,

she laughed,

she rocked

from side to side.

She lived

for twelve years

hugging

that little black dog

while her lean husband

walked it faithfully,

twice a day.