“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 and raised in Nagoya, Japan. She was an exchange student and received a BA and MA from Indiana University. Her recent publications are in Prairie Schooner, Hotel Amerika, RHINO, Cream City Review, and many other journals. Her first chapbook, Home, No Home, won the Oro Fino Chapbook Competition at Educe Press. Another short collection, Silver Seasons of Heartache, was recently released by Glass Lyre Press. She is working on her graphic poetry collection, which will be published by Tupelo Press. She is currently a RHINO fellow.

Photo Credit: Taj