canines, teeth, and dogs

Wolf and Dog

Not much is different

It’s all in the lungs

Breathing out domestication, warmth, soft damp breaths. Stupid, happy smiles. Simple love. Body on body, warmth to warmth. One is always above the other.

Or forcing out, rationing out air.

In a life where you are always starving

Cold breaths. Frostbite almost

It won’t make you happy easily. But it will teach you to love. To fight.

But it will also kill you

Casual or concentrated

you would be dead

Wrong to call them the same

You were a wolf, i think

But a big bad wolf, came along

Bigger than you, a lion.

Sharper teeth

Louder than you

They brought along a collar

Waited and waited

But this lion misstepped.

It didn’t catch its greater prey

Ebony black fur, and fangs and charisma.

It didn't catch a great black bear

It caught you

And it settled.

You were easy on the eyes

Easier to catch

It would have been too much a shame to return empty

handed

You are dog, now

Come when called

Sit, stay, down.

Speak

Kiss

Is it humiliating?

Is it all you've ever wanted

Sometimes you look up

A certain grin

Your teeth are shiny

You don’t hide it as well sometimes

You enjoy being a dog, i think

Sometimes

You enjoy the meat.

Stray bones, gristle thrown into your dish

I don’t think your collar chafes

As much as it used to

It's a collar of fingerbones. Delicate, intricate, fragile. But they will never loosen. Never break. They grip.

The bones are white. Bleached. Virginal.

Well, they were virginal

They can be

Colored in many ways by old fruit, and bad blood.

But sometimes

Its cold and crisp and the bones are showing

An I am all cut up and bleeding and there's no way to hide it now

There's no way to hide that your smile is a bit sharper

A little meaner

A little nearer

You are a quiet dog.

And a jaded wolf