The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Mon 3/30/2009)

[RetroLounge]

The Revenant

I am the dog you put to sleep,
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
come back to tell you this simple thing:
I never liked you--not one bit.

When I licked your face,
I thought of biting off your nose.
When I watched you toweling yourself dry,
I wanted to leap and unman you with a snap.

I resented the way you moved,
your lack of animal grace,
the way you would sit in a chair to eat,
a napkin on your lap, knife in your hand.

I would have run away,
but I was too weak, a trick you taught me
while I was learning to sit and heel,
and--greatest of insults--shake hands without a hand.

I admit the sight of the leash
would excite me
but only because it meant I was about
to smell things you had never touched.

You do not want to believe this,
but I have no reason to lie.
I hated the car, the rubber toys,
disliked your friends and, worse, your relatives.

The jingling of my tags drove me mad.
You always scratched me in the wrong place.
All I ever wanted from you
was food and fresh water in my metal bowls.

While you slept, I watched you breathe
as the moon rose in the sky.
It took all of my strength
not to raise my head and howl.

Now I am free of the collar,
the yellow raincoat, monogrammed sweater,
the absurdity of your lawn,
and that is all you need to know about this place

except what you already supposed
and are glad it did not happen sooner--

that everyone here can read and write,
the dogs in poetry, the cats and the others in prose.

Billy Collins

***************

:hi:

RL

[Chorophyll]

1. This is precisely why I have no pets.

Gotta love Billy. :hi:

[RetroLounge]

8. Do I gotta?

:D

:hi:

RL

[Chorophyll]

15. You don't gotta

but you almost can't help it. :D

[RetroLounge]

16. Well, he is "poet to the people" after all...

:hi:

RL

[blueraven95]

2. geez...

...




:hi:

[RetroLounge]

9. ...

:hi:

RL

[Heidi]

3. This is wonderful,

and probably not too far from what cats think of us, too.

:kick:

[RetroLounge]

10. Oh, Cats don't just think it...

evil cats :9

:hi:

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Sharper than the serpent's tooth...

The dog, in this case!

Yikes.

Very piercing.

And most likely right on the money.


:hi:

[RetroLounge]

11. ...

:hi:

[Justpat]

5. All of it true -

except that the horses read and write music.


Love it.


:hi:

[RetroLounge]

12. Horses and Music, yes!

:hi:

RL

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. ~

:donut: :hi:

It took all of my strength
not to raise my head and howl.

I can relate.

[RetroLounge]

13. ...

:hug:

RL

[BlueIris]

7. Morbid. But awesome. nt

[RetroLounge]

14. True...

:hi:

RL