I.

We hide the pill in a small ball of mozzarella.

Nancy used to eat around the pill

and spit it out,

Angel swallows the entire thing in one gulp.

She is mad for cheese,

thus she is our people.

This morning,

I offered her

her daily cheese ball.

She took it gently from my hand

as always.

But soon thereafter

she was jumping at me playfully

and snapping at my fingers

as if I had more goodness

I was with withholding from her.

It gave me the kind of laugh

I need to start my day.

II.

A few weeks ago,

I did not

put the pill

firmly in the cheese.

Angel bit into the cheese

and the pill fell out.

Before I could reload

another piece of mozzarella,

she looked down at the pill,

sniffed it,

licked it up

and swallowed it.

She is the easiest dog I have ever loved.