Foliate Oak Literary Magazine
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  • Crypt
    • Benevolence by Tony Hoagland
    • Sloan's Girl by Molly Giles
    • Stupid Bird by Thom Didato
    • Howie Good, Mar 2008
    • Anchored by Kirsty Logan
    • The Letter by Leland Thoburn
    • Laurence Klavan, Mar 2008
    • Derek Rempfer, Mar 2008
    • And The Winner Is... by Anne Goodwin
    • Stephen Leonard, April 2008
    • Tim Sawicki, April 2008
    • Steve Meador, April 2008
    • That's What You Get by David Rushing
    • Christopher Woods November 2008
    • Ravi Mangla, November 2008
    • Brandon Meyers Oct.08
    • Gail Gray, December 2008
    • Amy L. George, November 2008
    • Michael Barber, 2009
    • Tai Dong Huai, February 2009
    • Beth Rodriguez, February 2009
    • Chris Pike, March 2010
    • Joseph Belser, March 2010
    • Daniel W. Davis, November 2009
    • Matt Lavin, Febuary 2009
    • David Schatman, February 2009
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When my father dies and comes back as a dog,
I already know what his favorite sound will be:
the soft, almost inaudible gasp
as the rubber lips of the refrigerator door
unstick, followed by that arctic

exhalation of cold air;
then the cracking of the ice-cube tray above the sink
and the quiet ching the cubes make
when dropped into a glass.

Unable to pronounce the name of his favorite drink, or to express
his preference for single malt,
he will utter one sharp bark
and point the wet black arrow of his nose
imperatively up
at the bottle on the shelf,

then seat himself before me,
trembling, expectant, water pouring
down the long pink dangle of his tongue
as the memory of pleasure from his former life
shakes him like a tail.

What I’ll remember as I tower over him,
holding a dripping, whiskey-flavored cube
above his open mouth,
relishing the power rushing through my veins
the way it rushed through his,

what I’ll remember as I stand there
is the hundred clever tricks
I taught myself to please him,
and for how long I mistakenly believed
that it was love he held concealed in his closed hand.