Inferno Dog

author's note:

I believe the whole human race has entered the borderland.


INFERNO DOG

Last night, I again saw that dog
with the spinning inferno eyes--

the one that wants
to lead me from this scrub land
and into and through
the forest so dense.

In a previous dream
I'd stopped at that twilight border--
afraid to enter the extreme
shadowy wonder...
even with the guide dog.

However this time
I forced myself to step

only to trip
over my own shoelaces:

as in other dreams
my laces had somehow gotten tangled.

So once again, I knelt down
and worked to un-knot knots

as the dog watched,
a smile at the corners of its mouth--
it knows I know
I can't escape the inevitable.

© 2018, Michael R. Patton
my war for peace: poetry ebook