A Dog’s New Life

I waited for you by the window

And tingled with excitement Whenever I heard the thumping of footsteps That might have been you. I greeted you with my dangly tongue and my sloppy kisses, And ran in circles around your feet until I became dizzy. But all you did was greet me with mean shouts and powerful kicks. Whenever you had that cigarette dangling from your mouth, You would press the searing end straight into my fur. Whenever you lay limp on your sofa, You would fling your half-drunk bottle towards me, And roar with laughter When I shied away into the corner of our living room. Why would you, A haggard, middle-aged man who divorced from his second wife, Take your destructive anger out on me? I am your best friend, Not your punch-pillow. The day that I decided to run away Was the day that changed my life forever. My body spotted with welted burns and scraped from shards of glass, I caught the eye of a compassionate human Who cradled me in their youthful arms As we dashed to the vet a mile away. The young boy stuck by my side As my burns and cuts healed into light pink circles and lines. He called me “mine” And excitedly brought me to my loving new home Where I will be greeted with pats and belly rubs And loved until the day I die.

#Classof19 #Spring2019Edition #Poems