Carlotta, Jo and I

drink and chat

There is one empty

whiskey bottle

and one half full

on the coffee table

between us.

The three of us

are soft with the drink,

slow and tired

with laughter.

There is a pause

then Carlotta tells us

with a shudder

she is barren.

She needs Cassidy,

her recued grey hound,

to get her by.

To fill the emptiness

creeping from her belly

to her starving heart.

The three of us

are drunk and quiet,

our laughter resounds

in a serious silence

Carlotta shakes her head

and wants to leave

but we hold her.