JAKE
by: M.J. Arcangelini
We were not allowed pets,
no dogs, no cats. A vacationing
neighbor once sent me a
baby alligator from Florida,
in a shoebox. It bit and hissed;
it didn’t last long.
So Jake was not a pet,
he was Dad’s huntin’ dog,
like new boots or a new rifle.
He lived outside in a pen in a
Jake-sized doghouse Dad built,
next to the garage.
The first time we took Jake
huntin’ he got car sick, threw up,
finished the ride in the trunk.
When the first shot was fired
Jake jumped, yowled,
ran back and hid under the car;
it was clear he would
not last long either.
Having failed as a huntin’ dog,
my sister and I tried
to turn him into a pet;
Dad discouraged that.
After Jake got out one day and
snapped at the meter reader’s heels
he disappeared;
we never knew where he went.
Dad dismantled the doghouse
and pen, the grass grew back.
M.J. Arcangelini, (b.1952, Pennsylvania) resides in northern California since 1979. He has published extensively in both print and online venues & over a dozen anthologies. He is the author of 8 published collections, the most recent of which are the full-length PAWNING MY SINS, 2022 (Luchador Press), and the chapbooks FIERCE KISSES (Rebels & Squares Press) 2024 & HOOKING UP (Pure Sleaze Press, 2025). He has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.