As dogs
I try a new way of imagining people
as dogs
as dogs it makes sense
why anyone would be drawn to do anything
just as dogs rub themselves
in patches of grass
or suddenly lick a face
as dogs you can surely forgive
your mother
because she makes a funny dog
with frilly fur and worried eyes
and as a dog, is it so bad
you spend so much time
recalling a certain smell
or staring too long and too intently
at a torn leaf in a hot tub
a dog falls ill and says nothing
over time, they destroy the things they love
picture whoever is giving you trouble
or whatever part of you desires more than it has
then see a dog
pulling against the chain gripping his neck
or barely moving under a bench
watch the dog run away from everything it knows
do you blame them?
Copyright © 2021 by Rachel B. Glaser. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 25, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.
“I wrote this in my notebook on a plane on my honeymoon. Over the past few years, I've become more critical of myself and others. This thought exercise helped me embrace human flaws.”
—Rachel B. Glaser
Rachel B. Glaser
Rachel B. Glaser is the author of several books, including MOODS (Factory Hollow Press, 2013) and HAIRDO (Song Cave, 2017). She teaches fiction in the low-residency Mountainview MFA program and lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.