Childhood Series (I): Sugar

 Sugar and me, always together.

I nestled her into a worn towel in my bike basket,

a snatch of green grass for her snack, and we rode away 

from that house where there was no real peace, down the

Prairie Path, and then back along a suburban street

to visit Jeannie, my only human friend.

Oh, on those very hot days, when the sidewalks simmered,

we escaped to Squeaky Park in the backyard, cool and green

under the old Apple Tree, I lay down on the grass

next to her, my arms forming a small circle around her

and I may have dozed off, only to be awakened by

her small paws clambering over my arm.