Cats and Dogs
by Rocco Lungariello

Susan Dellasandro was the cat lady cliché
who lived in the brown L-shaped ranch
with her gray and tanned husband.
Except she had a dog, and came out
of her home quite frequently. But when
you're eleven, you used the wrong words
all of the time.

Mrs. Dellasandro walked Sherman Avenue
with a little white produce bag and a seven-year-old
German Shepherd, stopping at mailboxes,
talking to mothers about UCONN basketball
and rhododendrons.

Keith Laskey and the other after-school
specials huddled at the end of his driveway,
dribbling basketballs like a drumline.
They made faces at Susan's hairy armpits
as she waved hello, pretending they were
the cool kids in the lunchroom.

Before girls and middle school, Keith sat
on the curb and waited for Mrs. Dellasandro
and her dog, funneling street sand from palm
to palm. They would talk about homework
and little league.

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