My granddaughter’s eyelashes are arcs
of fringe at the edge of her lids
as she stares down at a sheet of paper,
her right hand, intent on capturing
the two dogs’ faces, guides a pen: Frida
with her sugar-cone-shaped snout
and triangular ears, inky coat
a dead match for her eyes, orbs
only visible when light catches them,
Sylvia with her paper-plate-shaped face,
kitchen-mop fur, fangs, and ray-gun glare
demanding food food food. When the portraits
are drawn, Molly’s blue irises rise to meet mine
and we both grin. Hers, with a gap where a baby tooth
used to be, traded to a fairy last week for two dollars.
About Susan Vespoli
When Susan Vespoli isn’t writing poetry and prose from Phoenix, AZ, she’s leading virtual writing circles for stg-writerscom-staging.kinsta.cloud, walking her dogs, or riding her bike. Her work has been published in spots such as Rattle, Nasty Women Poets Anthology, Mom Egg Review, and New Verse News.