sestina of my black golden chihuahua pug mutt puppy biting my thumb
in her earliest moments
The dog’s sweet smell amplifies in the sunlight
of daybreak, as she is only a mutt, a puppy.
We sit together in meditation, floating on the rug
as I reach for the forbidden item in her clenched jaw
among her infant teeth, my thumb exposes a slice
deeper than the brown of her eyes, exposing a single drop
of my body blood. She does not drop
the forbidden item and I wipe my thumb on the rug.
The crimson spot basks in the sunlight
as I tighten the muscles that line my jaw,
trying not to cry. It is only a drop and she is only a puppy,
and I can fetch my own bandage to shield the slice
of soft skin and boiling blood. Like the scissors slice
through the giftwrap preparing for the sunlight
of Christmas morning. As we sit on the rug
basking in the glow of gifts and the new puppy
squirming out of my arms as I try not to drop
her. Her soft mouth and toothless gums line a jaw
of unmasked purity. This morning she holds in her jaw
the plush innocence of the whole nation. Drop-
kicked to the Boston curb by the sunlight
of Faneuil Hall. A nursing and abandoned puppy
vacuuming up the scents of the curb searching for a slice
of Subway deli meats. Her toughened paws scrape the rug
like our old dog’s worn toes pulled up lint from the rug
as she ran through the fields in her sleep. Sunlight
beaming over the open field, dew drops
tickling her wet nose. Two months ago the cancer sliced
her spleen in two and it bled heavy, the jaws
of life leaving her as helpless as a puppy.
This infant replacement mutt is only a puppy
who did not mean to split open my thumb, her teething jaw
unclenches in spastic motions like the paring knife slices
crisp apples for our lunch salad. I drop an apple on the rug,
it spits out its own juice as I watch it drop
from my hand. Puppy’s watching eyes glow in the sunlight.
About the Creator
Elsie Coen
i am a middle school teacher whose words are not always appropriate for the classroom, but I'm sure as hell they've run their course through those kids' minds. salivate over the words and chew them until they're yours and only yours.
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