The one with the dog
(listen to the poem, read by Diane R. Wiener)
My white cane skitters over the damp sidewalk —
a gray sky helps me find a straight path to Dad’s green SUV
parked at the curb. A woman is handing him a flyer.
“School events for December,” she chirps.
“We’d love a donation.”
I hear Dad’s reply, its soft Southern lilt:
“I don’t need that. My daughter works here. You know Ms. Michael?”
“Oh yeah,” she says. “Ms. Michael, the one with the dog.”
Not Ms. Michael, the English teacher, the Dual Enrollment professor, the sponsor of National Honor Society.
The one with the dog.
The dog — my guide dog — hasn’t been on campus all year
because he retired six months ago.
My white cane catches on the sidewalk’s edge, and I pause
to lift it free of dirt and grass so I won’t trip.
“Well, take the flyer,” she insists. “Give it to Ms. Michael.”
Maybe the dog will read it.
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About the Author
Emily K. Michael is a blind poet, musician, and writing teacher from Jacksonville, FL. Since 2016, she has edited poetry for Wordgathering. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Wordgathering, The Hopper, Artemis Journal, The South Carolina Review, Nine Mile Magazine, Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog, Barriers and Belonging, Welcome to the Resistance, and AWP Writer’s Notebook. Her first book, Neoteny: Poems (Finishing Line Press, 2019), includes a finalist for The Atlantis Award as well as a nominee for The Pushcart Prize. Emily’s work centers on ecology, disability, and music. Emily is passionate about grammar, singing, birding, and guide dogs. Find more of her work at http://emilykmichael.com.