iii. dog
from corporal punishment will save your soul, a poetry collection i'm working on.
grab me by the nape of my neck like i'm your dog you tell me to come to your heel in my ribs but you touch me where i cannot place my hands over my ears ring with the gunshots on cattle slaughter day and night i wonder if your fingers imagine digging through my ribcage, into my heart. i want to run but the lead chokes me and i'm straining for understanding is foreign and you don’t know what i’m feeling but i can smell every emotion on you taunt me and hold morsels up high, tell me to sit under your table i salivate and i’ll wait begging for scraps, and i’ll wait for your affection is irregular but i’ll wait behind the garage door. i'm trapped in your house is safe and the world's so big you laugh when i shiver and quake i want your hands on me i’ll come to you, just cup my face i want your hands on me i’ll come, kiss my nose i want your hands on me i want your hands on me i want your hands on me