When Our Chihuahua Got Watermelon Sugar High
My poetic retort to our children who say there’s no such thing as a sugar high
Falling asleep in the cradle of our queen-sized bed there’s a distant muffled sky rumble
our dog in the backyard midnight melon high but we don’t know yet
yapyapyapyapyap scurry and scat and scuttle the high-pitched whine of a chihuahua on a mission
a closer rumble from my sleepy husband
What’s wrong with your dog
He doesn’t feel the pull to animals that I do our children do
To him they’re inconvenience nuisance annoyance
Our dog has been circling whining at the backdoor running from room to room tossing toys in the air like a show seal for hours and hours and hours
The sky rumbles and cracks I forget about the watermelon I found in the side yard busted open juicy flesh
Our dog is carrying something bigger than his head He won’t come inside I’ve lost my phone in the sheets It must be past midnight
I open the backdoor and watch lightning crack the sky bust open the clouds overflowing with rain emotion release The night eases
as I carry our neurotic pup to the couch and rub his chest the spot that makes him calm and sleepy I remember soothing my babies who are no longer babies in the small hours of night
He curls by my side snuggles a soft toy like a toddler with a teddy bear
I let the couch cuddle my weary body and we both fall asleep
****************
The rush of pouring rain wakes me in the morning I heat up espresso and oat milk
The cuddly yapyapyap dog bounds outside into the rain the far corner of the backyard
My husband goes to investigate finds a half-eaten watermelon and we realize our dog was on a sugar high
I relate and forgive him our yapyapyapyapper while my husband groans and we laugh and I pet our dog hold him close and cuddle him tight bonded with this little love in our lives
Thank you for reading. Here’s a personal essay I wrote about the relationship so many of us have with sugar: