running

i shuck the oyster of my life
and it is foul;
listening to Kate Bush while
the poodle takes too long
to pee, instead sticking his snout
between frothy hydrangeas—
he is prancing across the yard now
and i am mincing on the sun—
i call to him,
standing in the doorframe,
besieged by a sense
of inbetweeness;
he ignores me and
we both devolve
into platitudes.

________________

Chloe Tsolakoglou is a Greek-American writer who grew up in Athens, Greece. She obtained her MFA from the Jack Kerouac School, where she served as the Anselm Hollo Fellow. Her writing has been published or is forthcoming by Denver Quarterly’s FIVES, The Adroit Journal, GASHER, Cream City Review, and elsewhere. You can find more of her work at www.fridaycowgirl.com