dog

Cheers. this is a first draft. Critiques/comments/suggestions are most welcome.

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The way my life is at the moment,
My neighbors are also my landlords.

I usually see his wife,
but today Joe happened to be in the backyard
as I pulled in.
I called him over to give him the rent,
A few days late as usual,
As usual nothing said about that.
One of the many small kindnesses
I'm lucky to receive in this world.

He was tending to their modest swimming pool,
which I have many times fantasized about sneaking into
in the thick midnight summer air.
I'll probably never actually do that.

The temperature at the time,
As it had been for the past few days, was
Miserably fucking hot.

Now let me ask you this:
What sort of dog appears in your mind,
when you hear that word: dog?

Well, it just so happens,
That is exactly the sort of dog that Joe & Debbie have.

And as I handed over a wad of twenties,
He told me that their dog was dead
and before I could ask,
explained in an almost embarassed way,
that it had been poisoned.

The dog had not died quickly,
and was driven over two hours away
to a university hospital.
The liver had shrunk so dramatically,
That a biopsy could not be performed.
As the night wore on, her various systems
Shut down one by one.

A short period of time passed while we considered
this fresh evidence
that some people in this world,
have had their natural compassion
snuffed out of them.

We were being watched by a rabbit.

Joe is a big, beefy guy, with a thick moustache.
Solid, perhaps a bit unimaginative;
which is not to say
he doesn't have
a complex interior life.

A suspected neighbor was discussed,
and in a halfhearted way,
Joe awkwardly tried on
a violent fantasy of retribution
Which didn't fit him at all.

"You know", he said, "We don't..."
and though the pause was brief,
it was a great void
And I believe he regretted speaking,
but considered himself obligated
to finish the thought.
Softly: "We don't have any kids".

There was the slightest hitch in his voice, which,
If I were able to reproduce in this poem,
Would ruin the rest of your evening,
As it has mine.

He turned his head to watch the rabbit,
who was busy sniffing at all the subtle changes in the air
that we were oblivious to.

I shook Joe's hand for the very first time,
and went inside.