a tiny voice: poems

by Melissa Joseph

"When my poetry comes to me I go to a place where nothing else exists, just that sweet moment when the words, like a stream of water, flow, until the sensory valve automatically shuts off. I cannot go back and turn it on. It must happen again expressly. I don't have to wait for that moment. I know it will come again and again." Melissa Joseph

134 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2020

About the author

Baxter is an 18-year-old rescue dog. Melissa Joseph adopted him right before he was to be euthanized when he was two years old. About four years ago, he became a certified therapy dog. He comforts patients at San Diego Hospice and Palomar Pomerado Hospital in San Diego, where he lives with his owners, Melissa Joseph and Dennis Bussey.

As well as volunteering with Baxter, Melissa Joseph is an adjunct teacher of writing and literature. Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, she currently lives in San Diego with Baxter and her husband, Dennis.

Dennis Bussey took all the photographs in Moments with Baxter while volunteering at San Diego Hospice and the institute for Palliative Medicine. He also volunteers at Palomar Pomerado Hospital.