My neighbor lost a dog last week

I lost my husband

My neighbor is high-strung

I am a widow

She says she is grieving

She says a dog's death is an enormity no less than a man's death

She weeps and cannot be comforted

I lost my husband last week

It is an enormity

When my neighbor knocks on the door I pretend I am deaf

I am deaf

I am enormously deaf

I remember my neighbor's dog

He was small

I once saw my neighbor walking the dog on a leash

And I turned and said to my husband

Look, look at the cute dog

My husband was sick then

He looked

That dog is an enormity he said

My husband knew he was dying

Maybe he saw death

With some near-death vision

I have some tomatoes for you my neighbor shouts

Through the closed door

I can hear her sobs