The Black Dog Bites
Freeform poetry from the introspective collection, Black Dog, that runs with a folkloric figure that is often associated with misfortune and used as a metaphor for depression. Black Dog looks at this figure and gives him a voice, letting him bark back at a society that’s already made up its mind about him.
“I bite.”
Refrain of the cornered animal,
of the ones who see red and feel it turn
white hot.
I bark despite the fact that, actually,
it's much worse to be bitten,
as anyone twice shy will attest,
and it's only when I'm at my worst
that anyone seems to pay attention.
“I bite,
I bite,”
I bark, but you reach in regardless.
squeeze between the bars,
shove your hand in my mouth to take out my words
and complain when you feel teeth.
I've tasted blood before.
Each time the thing to scar
is the incredulity:
How could I? The quiet one,
the gentle one, first to fall
asleep before the fire and make
such silly, puppy dog noises
as I chase my dreams.
How dare I show
the sharpest part
of me.