Unchained

with Reka Jellema



We will begin
with bones
with howling
with fur and skin and paw,
extended and withdrawn. It pains
me, this dive,
secured,
your chains,
so collared, so mean.

Driving home the radio
trained voice warns
of war
crimes of terror
beyond our shores
and walking among us -
the histories that turn
men into dogs

A blasphemy
to all curs

On the couch
this dog asks why,
his hillock brow
over soft, dark eyes

with every blink
mine know
I will sleep,
his chin
upon my thigh

Wondering what,
had the god of dogs
begun with some
other bone,
he would make of me,
this human unchained
at the end of
a long day.


Written with Reka Jellema

© Reka Jellema & Brendan Bonsack
February 2015