FUR BELOW
Born in the year of the dog & bittenby one six years later walking home solofrom first grade & turning into an alleywhere aI didnât take their bodies for orangecones to swerve or turn back fromI paused & watched as they humped in frontof a garage belonging to the blue buildingwhere we rented the back end of a second floorapartment while my tia resided in the front halfI walked into their barked warningsheading towards the back door of homeby staying close to garages & garbage cansuntil I got too close & the cur got offthe poodle & mounted my bodyin a different way w/stiff paws& claws that tore at my facew/a tongue lapping up bloodw/a nose pelting my forehead wetw/teeth peeling off my skinonly to reveal fur belowI became a pup yelping for helpfor rescue by a hero named Lucioa third-grader who strode by & heardmy cries & scared the canine away& guided me to the front of my buildingwhere fear forced me to climb upthe fire escape where my mom & tiasat & chatted during warm daysI grasped rung after rung as bloodtears & snot clung to my facewhich my mother cleaned w/burninghydrogen peroxide & cotton ballsas my stepfather grabbed his BB gun& pumped & pumped to fire outthe back window at the dawdling dogswho ran away from each missed shotas I howled from being licked
