A Man and His Dog
There was nothing special about the dog
His fur was a pale yellow, mangy and dirty
He wasn’t a puppy, ready to take on the world
And his ill manners couldn’t be attributed to young age
But instead a poor upbringing and traumatic past
That sometimes made him act like a savage
The man spent time abroad, fighting like a savage
He saw himself in the old, beaten dog
The man had killed many people in the past
And his soul felt heavy and dirty
The dog didn’t know any of this, despite his old age
He only knew that they were both afraid of the world
At first, they lived in their own separate worlds
The man tried washing the dog, as his fur was savage
Sometimes they played in the yard, like children of a young age
The relationship grew, and the man began to love the dog
They frolicked in the mud, got their paws dirty
The dog began to trust the man despite his past
They often fought the past
The man remembered his time in the war, a different world
He wanted to wash away the sins and the dirt
Sometimes, the dog bit and snapped savagely
He remembered being a young dog
When his owners tied him up and left him outside to age
They both could feel their bodies age
Some of it naturally, some of it due to their pasts
The man wished not to outlive his dog
For he was his only friend in this lonely world
But the world is savage
It is not clean or pure, only dirty
And time took his dog because the world is dirty
Underground where he would rot and age
No one knows why, but life is savage
And when his dog died, he waited for the pain to pass
But it never did, cruel world
So he laid down beside his dog
And placed his old head on the dirty ground, thinking of the past
They would walk together through the world, despite how they aged
Because with a dog, you can beat anything savage
High Dive
The surface so far, I wonder how long it’ll take to fall.
I look over, a sickening sensation, vertigo.
Onlookers shouldn’t care, yet they are drawn to my downfall.
The board wobbles as I step to the front, a spitball
For rethinking the choice, warning me of the deep indigo.
The surface so far, I wonder how long it’ll take to fall.
My final leap, my swan song for all.
Keep your judgements to yourself, let me go.
Onlookers shouldn’t care, yet they are drawn to my downfall.
You know I’m afraid of heights, yet you’re enthralled
At my suffering, even though we last spoke eons ago.
The surface so far, I wonder how long it’ll take to fall.
The wind brings smells of lavender and honeysuckle, the gall,
Yet it soothes, ebbing away at my steadfast ego.
Onlookers shouldn’t care, yet they are drawn to my downfall.
A high dive, no more time left to stall.
The water shifts below, waiting for its precious cargo.
Onlookers shouldn’t care, yet they are drawn to my downfall.
The surface so far, I wonder how long it’ll take to fall.