MONSTER

The thing was to know what he belonged to,
how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own.
--Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Foul Alaskan bush dog, reeking of shit, fish, and dead
things, who trailed me everywhere, head slumped
below bare and bloody shoulders, fur scratched off from
mange, villagers said "part wolf," but they
said that about every dog -- he swallowed cats, made young boys
cry when he crept over to smell them -- open-jawed and
salivating, sired litters daily because bitches
loved his stink, eyes white-blue like a blind man's but
still seeing, dug up graves, bound to be shot soon,
and I, who loves dogs like a mother
should love her children, couldn't even
look at him.




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