Feed Your Dog
i would see the dog
chained in his yard
its ribcage
a hollow pulse of hunger
its face a cowed rag
when you are ten
adults have reasons
you go along with the reasons
hoping the world
is not the bedlam you fear
like when I saw
through a shop window
the severed heads
of butchered lambs
then one day
i shout over the fence
"feed your dog"
i don’t go away
even when he threatens and spits
i keep shouting “feed your dog”
a small crowd forms
a man in uniform arrives
questions are asked
the dog is led away
a few days later
mother takes me to the flower shop
to buy an in-door plant
the assistant says
"be sure to feed it well"
Copyright © Eric Ashford | Year Posted 2019
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