The Pleistocene

Only I know why dogs have wet noses.

Why they trot along the roadside,

oblivious to their credit scores.

I was wrong to be so drunk at the funeral;

especially before the mayor and her husband—

all the good they’ve done this town.

Like the glacial world of the Pleistocene.

Yet still, I have no regrets.

Only I know why dogs bark.

Only I know the difference between a rock dove

and a typical pigeon.

I kiss you with my wet nose.

I am always snotty.

Will Stanier is a poet and letterpress printer from Athens, Georgia. He currently lives in Tucson, where he graduated from the University of Arizona's MFA in Creative Writing. He is the author of a chapbook, Everything Happens Next (Blue Arrangements, 2021). His poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in Cleaver Magazine, Interim, The Volta, Pacifica, and Lazy Susan.