Cold tile kissed feet
Night chewed the glass
Ash lined my grin
Rust filled my chest
You called me pet
I heard the joke
Behind your teeth
You tossed me bones
Then watched me starve
You loved me bowed
You loved me hushed
You loved that chain
Across my throat
My bowl stayed dry
Your boot spoke first
My jaw stayed shut
Till hunger thought
Hunger counts locks
Hunger tracks limps
Hunger keeps scent
Through rain and oil
Hunger knows hands
That strike the crate
Hunger learns math
I watched your guests
Lift clean white teeth
Bless roast and wine
Their prayers smelled burnt
Their smiles smelled staged
This dawg bites back
Not for sport
Not for noise
For every bruise
For each shut door
For all your laws
That fed on skin
I kept the score
In tooth and scar
This dawg bites back
Dawn cut the sink
Steel went pale blue
I saw my face
Split by the pane
One eye held smoke
One eye held rain
One eye said kneel
One eye said strike
My pulse said wait
My scars said now
I licked my lip
I tasted salt
I tasted years
I tasted wire
No judge rose up
No hymn came down
Just my own breath
And furnace nerve
You trained with rules
I trained with lack
You had the porch
I had beneath
You had the feast
I had the smell
You had the choir
I had the vents
You had the hall
I had the crawl
You had the script
I had one need
To stay alive
Hear that hard snap
Hear that low growl
Hear old debt
Hear chains crack
Moonlight went thin
The house went still
Pipes ticked twice
A gate sighed wide
The yard turned black
No angel came
No badge flashed blue
No kindly hand
Undid the clasp
I bit the lock
I tore the strap
I took back neck
I took back breath
I crossed the brick
The roses watched
Warm lamp still lit
Maps on the desk
Notes wet with ink
I read one line
Then burned three more
You wrote of order
You wrote of blood
You wrote of breed
For lower things
I marked each page
Upstairs a clock
Counted my steps
Each click said yes
Each click said go
The hall wore gold
The floor wore gloss
Portrait eyes glared
From lacquered frames
Then came your voice
Low down the stair
A slick small sneer
A hunter drawl
You reached one hand
Like all was fixed
Like all was yours
Like I would crawl
Like blows were care
I saw your fear
Dress up as calm
No grand speech came
No clever quote
Just lung and leap
Just truth and force
My shoulder drove
Your table edge
Your cane spun off
Your glass went wild
We hit the rug
We hit the shelf
Books burst loose
Like startled crows
You cursed my blood
Your ring cut skin
My fang found truth
Your nails tore fur
My jaws held firm
Each bruise returned
Each child who flinched
At your quick step
Each spouse gone mute
Within your reach
All entered me
The room showed rot
Dust in the trim
Cracks in the base
A petty king
Till masks fall off
Till walls speak plain
Till all your polish
Shows the stain
Down in the yard
Wind shook the ash
Dawn climbed the hedge
Birds tested light
Ahead wet streets
Rail lines and smoke
The city woke
On grit and steam
Still more true
With teeth still bright
With one hard rule
No neck for chains
No life on knees
The rich can bleed
The lost can rise
This dawg bites back