Dining Al Fresco with My Dog

A widow and her white-muzzled dog, a coastal landscape filled with bully winds, characters who relieve the loneliness of being alone: Sue Fagalde Lick weaves these images throughout Dining al Fresco with My Dog in narratives both vulnerable and brave. Whether floating in her hot tub with memories of her husband or fixing a roof, she proclaims: "I am old, but... / warm dog at my fingertips, / I feel light as the alder tree, / rooted here for eternity". This is a touching celebration of life in poetry at its best.

--Carolyn Martin, Ph.D., author of The Catalog of Small Continents

Sue Fagalde Lick, in her collection, Dining Al Fresco with My Dog, walks us comfortably into her later life where she is "turning butch in [her] old age...now...wife and husband too." She imagines with humor how a cryptic observer would see her, guiding the reader through her daily routine of dog, pellet stove, writing, and reading, and concludes with, "Eats three times a day, keeps warm, still alive." She shares the richness of her solitude in nature (and the solitary nature of the writing life) but with many forays into the music, humor, and warmth she finds in her community. As a reader, I feel included and deeply satisfied.

-Rachel Barton, editor of Willawaw Journal and author of This is the Lightness

Grief. Brave attitude. Small triumphs. "Dear dead departed husband, / your being dead and departed / is a major pain in the ass." The widow senses her husband everywhere. Wears his shirts. Stacks the logs. Learns to change a spark plug. Sue Fagalde Lick may make you weep, make you smile. And then, of course, there's the dog. This is a strong book.

-Penelope Scambly Schott, author of On Dufur Hill