Two years ago, my wife brought home a dog.
Her name, Zola, a black female, smart and active.
Then, I scolded and inveighed at her, for I had never liked dogs.
Unwilling by me, she remained in the backyard.
We have three beloved sons, and, last week,
by a big muddle, they fought and thumped each other.
My wife, nervous and strained, abandoned home,
leaving me and going to an apartment we possess.
That night, I phoned her and ask why she had not taken Zola.
It is an apartment, she said, a big one, but
Zola does not fit here.
Take her, I said, it is a matter for you to solve.
Then, at the eleventh hour, she passes by the corridor and says:
I am back home, will remain with you.
I learned, once more, that, in my life,
everything has had a reason to be,
even just an animal.
Zola rescued a thirty-five years’ marriage.
By Edilson Afonso Ferreira.
Published Newsletter TWJ Magazine, October 2014.
Published in The Lake, October 2015 issue.
edilsonmeloferreira 