Your bark is fierce

When someone knocks on the door
they may feel scared
and think BEWARE OF DOG

You sound so tough
and menacing
with your foul howl
and gruff ruff

Then as you
hobble to the door
to greet them
you lick their outstretched hand;
they’re so relieved to see
most likely they could
outrun your beastly bravado

Three-legged dog—
you prove
no impairment
prevents one’s voice
from causing an uproar

-Jude Lally,
I’m Fine, but Thanks for Asking, (2012) Accents Publishing

Jude Lally’s poetry reflects who he is and where he’s from. Raised in central and eastern Kentucky by a single mother who sometimes struggled to make ends meet, he learned how to be independent and self-reliant at an early age. He and his small family moved around quite a bit, but never out of the region. This taught him the virtue of adaptability, which would also prove very useful in his life. Jude was diagnosed with Friedrich’s Ataxia, a rare, degenerative neuromuscular disease, in the summer of 1998. He earned a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Kentucky in 2006. His first collection of poems, The View from Down Here, was published in early 2010 by Accents Publishing. He currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky.