Dog Song.
Sylvia Berta Alaniz
I just heard someone
beating a dog.
The whining of the dog
pierced my being
and come out the other side,
like a memory of those cries
that were already inside me -
waiting to spontaneously jump
into my mind.
The cry of the dog
ran down the street
toward my neighbor's house,
expecting somebody
to catch it,
and maybe being it back.
As though the animal's whimpering
and high whining were now
permanently mine.
