Excerpt from the Spring 2023 issue of The Extension
Greetings from retired professor of Spanish and Portuguese, former chair of Modern Languages, and poet. As a new member of the WSURA Board, I have been invited to create a regular poetry column for this newsletter, which I am delighted to do. It will feature poets from near and far, now and then. It will all be understandable because, in my book, poetry is communication.
I am starting with one of my own poems, and I hope you enjoy it. I trust you will identify with the scene, especially if you have a dog.
Meatballs
My dog tells me
she hasn’t eaten
for days
when what is causing
her relentless display
of pathos—the litany
of groans, the big wet eyes
that pleading look
is the smell of meatballs
in tomato sauce
and Marsala wine
simmering on the stove.
I tell her to wait
She tells me it is hard
to wait and I agree
I’m hungry too.
I promise her a taste
and for a moment
she is quiet.
She understands
every word I say
and knows now
she’s got me
by the meatballs.
