ISSUE ONE: “Pochi or Kuro” by Naoko Fujimoto

Pochi or Kuro

Following
the ghost dog down, Father implanted a stroke.
It is resting in my great uncle’s
side of the graveyard with people I had
never talked to. Mother said, “The dog should not be here.
Bad luck for ancestors and descendants.” Father used to say,
“It ate its own shit.” Its name was forgotten; Pochi or
Kuro, a common Japanese dog’s name. When
Father jogged in the morning, the dog
waited by the telephone pole. It barked,
and Father replied, “I am struggling with a new
computer system.” The dog sniffed
his hand as if saying, I smell nappa-cabbage. It licked
him three times, Don’t drive today.
You partial,
vegetable.

Naoko Fujimoto

Naoko Fujimoto was born, raised in Nagoya, Japan, and studied at Nanzan Junior College. She was an exchange student and received a B.A. and M.A. from Indiana University. Her poetry collections are "We Face The Tremendous Meat On The Teppan", winner of C&R Press Summer Tide Pool Chapbook Award by C&R Press (2022), "Where I Was Born", winner of the editor's choice by Willow Books (2019), "Glyph:Graphic Poetry=Trans. Sensory" by Tupelo Press (2021), and four chapbooks. She is a RHINO associate & out-reach translation editor and Tupelo Quarterly translation editor.

Photo Credit: Taj