She rolls her eyes
and the Devil Dog
knows a subordinate
a savory dish
for her eyes
they deviate
Jackals are gathered
to howl at Sirius
like satellites
they are called up
below it
under its occult rising
The cohort is hoisted
the dole is allocated
immaculate coercion
a spree of offerings
and favors are granted
torches are lit for burning
The ascendent is gifted
the starlet branded
abiding attendants are delighted
under her heliacal rising
Canicula is blazing.
I shall not linger, tarry, where,
Beneath the oaks, out of the glare,
I had a dog to bury, ere
I lose control, emotions flare.
Among the roots, precise, with care,
There was so little room to spare:
A cairn of rock so none would dare
To dig, to make inquiry there.
Failed him, of this I'm great aware.
At times, a bit too much to bear.
It is a tragic, sad affair,
And so I dug internment lair.
The two of us, a bonded pair.
That wondrous coat of fine black hair!
But, damn! His actions: hard to square.
With growling, fearful, narrowed stare,
Attacked an infant, small and fair;
Gave all of us an awful scare.
I vowed demise, a solemn swear.
The righteous end, and yet, beware:
'Twas grief, not vengeance, in the air,
Commended with a tearful prayer.
----------
(In memory of Dizzy, the devil dog, a border collie I had for about 10 years,
but had to put down when he attacked my grandson. The experience is not
recent, but the emotion is still raw after all these years)
Brutus, my slavering Rottweiler, growls
He knows he's tougher than pooches with tails
The long pointed studs on his black leather collar
Are matched by his canines which make poodles holler
The drooling saliva that trails from his jaws
As he lumbers about on his four massive paws
Is soaking the ground and his talon like claws
Encouraging folk to keep children indoors
Devil Dog, Satan’s mutt, hellhound and more
All labels my beast has been nick-named before
I feed him on red meat and shin bones of cattle
It’s said he eats tigers but that’s tittle tattle
The park is all ours because other folk run
But wait, there’s a kitten, now this could be fun
Brutus will rip him apart for a lark
And splatter its blood and guts over the park
Hey, kitty kitty, come over to me
Play with my dog, what good friends you could be
But kitten was clever, too clever for me
He hissed and now Brutus is stuck up a tree
I flinch at the growl
Of the junkyard dog
And his hot breath on my neck
It is a cinch
He is going to rip me apart
If his chain has one more inch
My butt would be in a pinch
I'm praying that chain will clinch
And lynch
That devil dog
Just outside those snapping jaws
And under those razor claws
Back over the security fence
I hope no one saw me flinch
The junk man is
In his office space
Laughing as that Yorkie
Licks his face
What Makes You Flinch Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Julie Leigh Rodeheaver
5/29/19
Let me tell you what its like,
to fall in love with a marine,
he’s my hero, lover and my friend,
when he’s in his shade of green.
He makes me laugh when I am down,
he is with me through every stride,
and he fights for his country,
with his brothers by his side.
He stands tall and proud,
wearing his medals across his chest,
hes seen and done it all,
but knows he’s no better than the rest.
He never forgets where he comes from,
this devil dog is always true,
he always has a positive attitude,
no matter what hell hes gone through.
Every day I worry,
for there’s a chance hes called to war,
but I know he’ll make it back to me,
cause it’s us hes fighting for.
But if that time comes,
and he must leave us for the last time,
I’ll never forget that special day,
the day I made him mine.
But that’s looking to far ahead,
cause that’s few and far in between,
but thats a chance you have to take,
when you fall in love with a marine.