013p: the dog that barks outside my apartment

someone shut that goddamn dog up,
this poor hound who yips and yaps
whenever its owners leave it in the backyard
to traipse off on whatever bullshit scenario
they get themselves into.
nobody thinks about the dog.
when you are gone, the dog barks.
when you are back, the dog does not bark.
so you, in your genius splendor,
don’t think the dog barks when you are gone,
BUTNO
ITDOES
ALOT
christmas eve you left the dog out all night
–in 20 degree weather!–
and it barked all night.
ALL.
NIGHT.
i sat nervous in my apartment
vacillating between going to bed
and calling animal control
to take your poor dog away from you.
in the end i was a coward and excused
my lack of calling to the harrowing
road conditions and the fact
that it was christmas eve and maybe
nobody was working in animal control.
the dog’s still here, thankfully.
it’s not dead, frozen stiff as a reminder
to be good to your pets, thankfully.
it’s still has the strength to bark.
thankfully.
i guess.