The Pontificators

Charlie said it don’t make no difference.
He said if the world was a dog, then dogs
wouldn’t be nothin’ but a bunch of fleas.
Then he laughed just like the big shit-turd he is.
I wanted to yell into his stupid grinnin’ face
that the world ain’t no dog, but he was drinkin’.
Ma says if I rile him when he’s drinkin’
I deserve what I get.

Lady watched Charlie as he took each scruffy
pup and put it in the sack. She sniffed his hand
when he grabbed one, and then she’d sniff
her porch spot where the rest was.
Then I was sniffin’ too, because I knew
she didn’t have no idea what was happening.
When they was all gone into the sack she nosed it
and just kept whinin’ and waggin’ her tail.

Charlie laughed at her. He said
What’s the matter Lady? You like fleas?
Then he held the sack close to her nose
so she could smell it better. I could see
them puppies wigglin’ through the sack,
and they was cryin’ for Lady. Poor stupid Lady
just kept on waggin’ her tail.

Charlie told me to come on and we was going to
throw them puppies off the bridge.
But I said no way, I ain’t no damn killer.
He said they was just a bunch of fleas
and then he laughed again. Lady was still standin’
right by him sort of shiftin’ her feet and smellin’ that bag.

Charlie got mad then and threw his beer bottle at me,
but I ducked and ran away. When I came back later
I guess he did it, ‘cause the puppies was gone
and he was sittin’ inside drinkin’ more beer
and watchin’ TV. He laughed at me again
and called me dumb flea-lover.
Lady sniffed all over the porch and around
the house the rest of the day. She cried all night
and I didn’t get no sleep at all.

The next day she stopped whinin’. For a week,
every time Charlie saw Lady he said
where’s your fleas girl?
Poor stupid Lady just wagged her damn tail.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 10:12 am and is filed under Alvin, Fiction, Poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.