Breakdown

Shivering, DARK DOG howls
at injustice.
Cold, wet, defiant
he knows he did
not hurt her.
Fangs withdrawn
but dripping blood
he does not see.
Alone he howls to
some distant star.

He wants to shield her
from her pain, but
deaf, her
black tongue shouts
“I don’t believe you,
I hurt.”
The tormentor stabs
herself again.

A safe warm place
turns icy cold.
Familiar patterns,
wood-lines scorched,
fired to ash.
Roots, depth and growth
are gone.
Pestilence and blight linger.
Clear eye and perfect vision,
gouged out and trodden on

Pull this skin apart
and see the flesh
and blood flow
Name and blame
the dark foe.
Looking into depths
would risk her reason.
“I blame you, I blame you”

an edge, an edge…
a precipice.
she swings onto
the mean side.
But dog,
where are you?
Do you only fight
her with your surprise?
She will prove she’s right
the rest of her life
Dog, you are excluded…
evaporate.