Anna Cates

Piece of Meat

Like St. Francis of Assisi, who preached to horses, I tried to offer the neighbor’s dog a “Peace of Christ” when, loose from her leash, she trespassed onto my yard while I gardened.  She faced me down, snarling and barking. But when she turned and headed home, I thought myself a safe and competent animal whisperer. The dog had yet to attack.  

Maybe Walmart’s Ol’ Roy was too plant-based and unsatisfying to the dog. Hence, the unthinkable incident. Afterwards, it occurred to me that the little devil, not that little actually, had been studying me for quite some time, trying to determine the best strategy to take me down, put me on the dinner plate.

That afternoon, aiming to pull up a few weeds, I checked the side of my house to make sure the dog wasn’t out—my neighbors keep her chained in the front yard—for I can’t get any yardwork done on their side of my house when the dog is there. One year, she lunged at me, backed me up against the beige siding of my house—loud mouth a meat grinder—and if that leash had only been a few inches longer…

That afternoon, I was hunched down, digging up a clump of weeds from a Gold Mop Cypress bush, when the dog “snapped his leash,” to use my neighbors’ terminology from the police report. I stumbled back as she tore in, fangs snagging and ripping at my gray sweatpants. I stumbled back into my garage, unsure and slipping out of my slide-in sneakers, as the dog followed. Perhaps she knew that, if she kept her teeth in my foot, I’d trip and fall, as I did, landing helplessly, pathetically on the concrete, where I wasn’t in a decent position to defend myself.  Only the neighbor pulling her back by the leash allowed me to escape with only minor injuries.

But now, along the bike trail, rustling branches become a vicious attack dog that becomes only a redheaded woodpecker. Now, an incessant barking at night becomes only the rotating blades of my fan as I rise from morning dreams. Now, shadows of Judas lurk in the night…

along the bike trail
a missing dog flyer
April rain

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About the Author

Dr. Anna Cates teaches writing, literature, and education online and has published a variety of books (poetry, fiction, and drama) through Cyberwit, Prolific Press, Red Moon Press, and wipfandstock.com. Her short form poetry collection, Love in the Time of Covid, won an Illumination Book Award. She resides in Wilmington, Ohio, with her two beautiful kitties. 

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