“Is this a dagger which I see before me”
--Macbeth
They summoned the therapy dog
on call walking the hall
by the ophthalmology rooms
where the retina specialist
injects needles
into patients’ eyes --- eyeballs
The dog scampered to me
after my treatment
for macular degeneration
in my right eye and after
I rose from the tilted chair
startled at seeing a cluster of
sliced black olives
that couldn’t be brushed away
because they weren’t there
or in the air
or anywhere
I have thee not, and yet
I see thee still
I froze blinked,
then melted down
double double
toil and trouble
O that happens sometimes
everyone said
those bubbles
will dissolve and disappear
Disoriented as I’d become
I lost my balance
and fell against
a waiting room chair
That’s when they
called for Yolo
a big Australian labradoodle
caramel colored
Yolo O Yolo
standing soundless
accepting my embrace
in exchange for wooly comfort
Sometimes it’s hard
to be a human person
I whispered to him
I knew not the dog’s mind
Perhaps Yolo knew
what they knew
the sliced black olives
that I saw before me
would dissolve
disappear
by nightfall
all went well
that ended well
Nancy is author of work that has appeared in numerous lit journals,
including Rat's Ass, Voice of Eve, Global Poemic, Constellations,
and elsewhere. In past chapters of her life she published some
thirty books for young readers; one of her award-winning books
is "Chuck Yeager: The Man Who Broke the Sound Barrier."
She is a one-time Pushcart nominee for an anthologized essay,
"Online Dating in the Golden Years."