By Paul Hostovsky
The retriever sleeps all the time
in a corner, the cat drinks
all the time from the sink,
the hamster is blind and obese,
the rabbit just stares off into space,
chewing. Even the lion
slinking through my dreams is more
fearful than fearsome these days
and seems to be balding
from some nasty skin disease.
Only the Chihuahua (be still,
mi corazon) is restless as ever,
alert to every noise in the house—
jumpy sentry perched on my chest,
barking his false alarms.