You call me your dog,
your *****, your fool,
hurling words like stones
to shatter my heart.
I wag my tail anyway,
smiling through trembling lips,
fetching scraps of kindness
from the shadow of your hands.
You call me useless,
a beast beyond learning,
but I only want to please you—
to sit, to stay, to love.
Even as you turn away,
your voice cracking the whip,
I crawl through every wound,
bearing the weight of your name
like a leash around my soul.
For to be your dog
is still to be near you,
and I, the fool,
would bleed to feel you call me mine.
I cried so hard writing this poem. I'm deeply sorry for anyone who has ever felt the need to go to such painful lengths when loving someone. This is for you.