Literary Mama Rewind: Dogs
Welcome to Literary Mama Rewind! Every few weeks we’ll round up some of our favorite essays, stories, poems, columns, and reviews from the Literary Mama archives relating to a particular theme. They guard our houses, make us laugh, and many times take over our lives, but the dogs we keep also end up taking over our hearts. This week we have stories about the canine companions who share our lives.
- Au Pair in Alabama, or The Legend of the Dog-Killer by Tua Laine in Fiction
Our first au pair killed the neighbor’s dog the morning after she came to Alabama. She was eighteen and looked like her name in Finnish: Satu — a fairytale.
- Unleashed by Vicki Fish in Fiction
Rule #1 of the Pet Visiting Program: Control and Protect Your Pet. Maureen fears Ike could hurt himself or others in his great bounding happiness…
- The Invisible Dog by B.L. Pike from the Column Senior Mama
One evening at dinner our daughter Dara read us an article about a child with diabetes who was raising money for an alert dog. Until then we were unaware that dogs existed who could alert their person to dangerously high or low blood sugars—a situation Dara herself runs into often enough despite performing between ten and twelve blood tests daily on her calloused fingertips. How do dogs manage this remarkable feat?
- Adopting Elvis by Lizbeth Finn-Arnold from the Column Mom and Pop Culture
My husband, Mike, looks at me and says bluntly, “You know this is a mistake.”
The cashier hands Mike his credit-card receipt, and my husband signs his name on the line. I look down at the eight-week-old baby cradled in my arms.
- Impregnate Me Please by Shannon Hare in Poetry
Sneaking around the dog park
like some kind of puppy pervert
- Metamorphosis by Jane Carroll in Poetry
Each Saturday morning my daughter becomes
a puppy. This continues for an hour or more,
before and after our breakfast.
- When He Returns by Kyle Potvin in Poetry
Each night, her canine sentry
keeps guard
from her husband’s
side of the bed.
- I Chew on My Dog Driver by Brit Kaufmann in Poetry
Stop wagging your tail. This is serious.
What were you thinking?