Black Dog

Black DogMarie Philip

One has beeneverybody else’s propertyfor weeks –they know about weddings.Every detail - `tea for the traffic cop’ –Has been meticulously planned,And the family now is rising through the organizationTo the occasion: the date and almost the time.

A deluge of Autumn rain gives my father the opportunityOf reminding no oneThat he refused to have a garden receptionAnd multiple anxieties are locked awayin his tower of strength.I too have been charming all day.Veiled now, and dispensing white serenity,I wave off ahead of memy mother and my festooned regimeand accept my father’s armpast puddlesto the hired and chauffeured car.

Sharp barks. A muddy Scotch terrierhurtles himself on this dressed-up neighbourand I screech:`Buggeroff you-bloody-little-black-dog.’

Remorse! Image sullied. I turn to my father, and face a rare enjoyment, I feel a tightened arm.From a clean moment of contactwe proceed with the ceremonyfor him formallyto give me away.

What does she mean by this?

What evidenc

e is there of

this?

One has beeneverybody else’s propertyfor weeks –they know about weddings.Every detail - `tea for the traffic cop’ –Has been meticulously planned,And the family now is rising through the organizationTo the occasion: the date and almost the time.

Why does her father choose to remind no one that he refused to

have a garden reception?Figure

of speech

?What does it suggest about her father’s state of mind?

What does this reveal about the bride’s state of mind and her

feelings?

A deluge of Autumn rain gives my father the opportunityOf reminding no oneThat he refused to have a garden receptionAnd multiple anxieties are locked awayin his tower of strength.I too have been charming all day.

What do the words

“dispensing” , “festooned” and “regime” tell us

about the bride’s feelings about the day?

What are the literal and figurative

meanings of “veiled”?

Why do you think she has these

feelings?

Veiled now, and dispensing white serenity,I wave off ahead of memy mother and my festooned regimeand accept my father’s armpast puddlesto the hired and chauffeured car.

Is this a grammatically

acceptable sentence?

What effect does it achieve?

Who is this?

What is the effect of these

verbs?

How does punctuation

enrich meaning

here?

What does this tell us about the

bride’s actual state of mind?

Sharp barks. A muddy Scotch terrierhurtles himself on this dressed-up neighbourand I screech:`Buggeroff you-bloody-little-black-dog.’

How does the bride feeling about shouting and swearing at the dog?

Why does she feel like this?

What are the full

implications of this

phrase?

Why is the father’s

reaction to the incident unusual?

In what way does

the incident with

the dog change

the proceedings

?

Remorse! Image sullied. I turn to my father, and face a rare enjoyment, I feel a tightened arm.From a clean moment of contactwe proceed with the ceremonyfor him formallyto give me away.