Courage of a Small Black Dog by Ann Leamon

The call  came late: the pickup was tomorrow. 
Edgy as drug dealers, we watched
for the other car to pull into the parking lot 
south of Worcester, chosen
for easy access. But they saw our plates,
approached us first 
with a tap on the window.

Sturdy black barrel on stubby legs,
she peed on a shrunken, shabby 
snow drift, ignored the treats 
from our dear, dead dog, leapt 
into the back seat, rearranged
the pillows, sighed, settled. 
She was an old hand 
at new starts.

The fosters transferred her belongings: 
Food, bed, two harnesses—green and 
pink—, the red plaid coat 
we learned she hated, toys 
she didn’t touch, the only bowl 
she’d use, the fluffy mat she loved, 
her leash, her records. A life in a shopping 
bag. They wept their goodbyes, 
cramming themselves into the car
for a final pat before we drove her 
two hours north, to her third new life.

A candle to the fosters, who slept
for three weeks in their recliners 
to keep her company at night.
A candle to the former owners, who did
The best they could 
and gave her up. 
A candle to the trust of a small
black dog, again believing
in the kindness of humans,
as she rescued me
from the emptiness 
howling in my heart.

Artist’s Statement

I’ve always told myself stories, and putting them on paper just became the next logical step. This poem stemmed from our adoption of 7-year-old Bella last year. We were her third home in three months, and her calm trust in us still takes my breath away. She’s snoring at my feet as I write.

Ann Leamon's world includes venture capital research, creative writing, and occasionally adopting dogs. In addition to writing two editions of a textbook and 150 cases for Harvard Business School, she has published in The Lyric, River Teeth, Hole in the Head Review, North Dakota Quarterly, They Call Us…, and The Boston Globe, among others. She holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in German from Dalhousie University, and master’s degrees in Economics from University of Montana and Poetry from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She lives on the coast of Maine with her husband and a Corgi-Lab mix.