In the spring of 2025, I met the two loves of my life: a senior pug who just needed a hospice home and a man who just wants the best for me.

I adopted Matty from a rescue in Los Angeles after a therapist prescribed a dog to try to cure my severe depression. I was drawn to Matty because he was terminally ill and just needed someone to take care of him. Matty passed away on December 10^th, 2025 – just about seven months after I brought him home. I have never loved anyone the way I loved and continue to love Matty.

Almost immediately after bringing Matty home, I met a man at a coffee shop. We sat in the corner where too many people could overhear us and we stumbled through a meandering first date conversation. On our second date, he took my hand in the darkness of a dance party and then I leaned over to tell him, “I like you.” On our third date, we held hands at a protest.

I told him about a poetry project I wanted to complete; he sent me a blank notebook with Gustav Klimt's The Kiss on the cover. I filled it with writing.

(Enjoy this with a soundtrack.)

*****

Unmasking

Unmasking is

Singing in the car with you,

but not holding back

Asserting a boundary,

but without an apology

Asking for help,

but with pride

Unmasking is

the way you lace

your fingers through mine

when we're holding hands,

to maximize our skin-to-skin real estate

the seams of each knuckle

where they attach to the palm: touching

And it's still not enough

Unmasking is

the reverberation of your voice

in the heart cavern of your chest

expanding with each breath

my exhale in sync with yours

Unmasking is

the heated tears

in response to big feelings

about something small

hot not with shame,

but with with the heat of the star that birthed me and still feels it all

The Most Cringe Poem Ever Written by a New Dog Mom

All the things I said

I would never do

I do for you

x2

It's you & me against the world now

one weird woman

& her senior pug

My angry little baby

My grumpy Mr Man

My spicy sweet potato

Just a flimsy layer of plastic between

the palm of my hand

& your hot shit

turn it inside out

tie it up & toss it

Somewhere long ago

in both our DNA

we wandered this life together

smaller than the predators and the chaos that ruled over us

deciding we made more sense together

than trying to survive alone

These days survival looks less like outrunning jaguars

and more like trying to reconcile

just how far we've gone astray

(How do we still act like scavengers

when surrounded by so much waste?)

And Matty, you look less like a wolf

and more like a potato

I guess it still makes sense

just as much sense as it used to

(It makes no sense at all)

All the things I said

I'd never do

Because you've made my heart softer

Because you've made the mirror kinder

Because you've made the world a little easier

And you don't even know it — you don't even care

that's how selfless you are

Maybe, Matty, I'll find you in the next life

except maybe then you will be the human

and I will be the dog

And you can hold me when I cry

And I will only know that moment

& how utterly & unabashedly

I adore you