woof!
You are a Rottweiler
and the hand
holding you back
straining your voice
and collared throat,
wanting to rush
into the long
grass of desire.
You are aware
of ticks, the
inevitable choice: do
you love yourself
enough to pay
the vet’s bill?
Or will you
let yourself sleep,
(so gently)
after getting what
you wanted, after
feeling the wet
freedom of running
through want, sacrificing
yourself to the
cycle of dogs?
Oscar Stirling Payne is a writer. You can find him in Hertfordshire, where he sometimes works on a Lavender Farm, and occasionally performs his poetry live. He graduated Lancaster University’s Creative Writing MA program, and has been published in Flash Journal