The State of the Union at Our House

A News Response Poem

---

At our house, the state 
of the union is that the dog,
a fluffy, energetic, six year-old, 
55 pound chocolate labradoodle, 
tore his ACL, had surgery, and is confined 
to a 10 x 10 sewing room repurposed
as a pet hospital, where he must stay,
completed sedated for two weeks, 
months of slow recovery ahead.

This was an unexpected shock.
Other plans were in place. 
The current condition is unease, 
grief, helplessness, a scramble 
to figure out how to move forward,
how to operate day by day. 
The household is tense, constituents
not aligned on strategy or tactics. 
The dog is in pain, exhausted,
confused and disoriented.

Make him wear the E-hood at all times,
we were advised by the vet. Exceptions 
only for eating and drinking,
as licking the wound will create risk
of infection. The hood has proved 
useful – clever dog used it to whack 
the pet gate, unhook the lock 
and break free, only to wander around 
slowly, sore and bewildered. 
Once apprehended and returned 
to his prison cell, surrounded by boxes
and spools, he slammed the hood 
repeatedly on the door to get our attention.
We get it. You don't like it, we think. 
We don't either. Increase sedation, 
says the vet. For the dog, or us?

The state of the union here 
is adaptation, managing change, 
leaning into compassion, examining 
our patience and capacity for acceptance. 
Our focus is on one thing: the dog. 
When one is caregiving, the problems 
of the world seem far away, like static, 
like a soap opera on a television 
with the sound turned down -- still there,
but surreal, secondary to the immediacy
of suffering. What do you do when your dog 
looks at you through sad brown eyes, 
telepathically pleading for you to make things better, 
but you know nothing can happen instantly.
The only thing you can do now is to follow
instructions, to act on what you can, 
to minister, to trust that time and love 
will restore health, to repeat over and over 
that healing is a journey, that the state 
of the union today is not permanent.
Today is just today, and tomorrow 
will be different.

---

Author’s note: Even with the dog situation unfolding, I watched the entire State of the Union speech and have been contemplating the message all week.

---

I’m proud to be a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our work here. Please consider being a paid subscriber to my colleagues’ sites. Thank you for your support.

Failed to render LaTeX expression — no expression found