Left to the Dogs

[paintedmusic]

Left to the Dogs
1.14.08

and the dogs meander aimlessly about…
but what happened to the children
that once used to follow like faithful puppies behind them?
(like so many trusting ducklings)
what happened to the shouts of glee
as glistening eyes watched mother pups give birth?

and the dogs bound through the empty streets…
once teeming with people
bustling with activity
overflowing with
life
and now all is silent as death
(an angel that just passed through, claiming souls from the debris)

and the dogs kiss the dusty ground beneath their padded feet…
tongues licking mud from a dirt-and-tear solution
because that’s the only liquid left in the now-barren land
after their lives went up in fire.&.smoke

and the dogs press their ears against their heads in a silent growl...
as the long-gone innocent-child(ren) shrieks
of merciless agony
still
e
c
h
o
(silently)
like ghost-wisp lamentations

and the dogs scrounge around for food…
but come up with only bodies instead
and whimper as familiar scents waft up from rotting corpses:
the children will never run with them again
because their bodies were left
t o t h e d o g s

and now dogs are all that’s left.