Greener | A Collection of Poems

20 || Beware the Dogs

Beware of the dogs
those hellhounds with their gnashing teeth
blood still dripping from their slobbery jowls

You may pet them and they will roll
growling with satisfaction as
you rub on their swollen tummies
still full from yesterday's meal—
and still hungry for more

They may sleep at your feet
even defend you at times
barking with unwavering ferocity at the ones who
know what they are

Those of us who made the same
careless mistakes
and still bear the scars
of a mauling unexpected
and narrowly survived

I know you won't listen
No one ever listens
you won't hear the stories
nor will you believe the ones who so desperately try
to warn you—

beware the dogs.

For they will eat you up
and they will shit you out
and they will use you the way they used me
and so many others before

and when your flesh returns to the earth
and there is no one there to prop up your delicate bones—
licked clean and marred by jagged teeth

then will you understand
what I was trying to say?

AE Greene
02.12.2024