Blanket
I was the designated person. I’d seen it before and I am hard.
All over in a few seconds; a slow movement across two
graduations, then an increased flow to a final stop at empty.
Clear eyes to opaque in an efficient procedure performed by
this calm and sympathetic professional; the dog, supporting
his own weight one moment, to being a dead-weight slumped
in my arms on a vinyl covered veterinary table the next. Be
aware, she said, now the body is relaxed, it is likely his bladder
will evacuate in your car. I stood in the car park and placed his
body, wrapped and limp in his old dog blanket, on a large
plastic sheet in the boot and sobbed like a child.
Jonathan Humble is a deputy head teacher in Cumbria. His poetry has appeared in The Big Issue In The North, Poems For Freedom, The Caterpillar Magazine, Lighten Up Online, Obsessed With Pipework and on BBC Radio.