The abused sidle up to the abuser,
over and over and over; they are
there looking lovingly in the totally

desperate hope that the abuser
would not strike again, but the
nature of the abuser is to abuse

and the nature of the abused is
to stay close, to hide close by,
to lick the hand of the abuser

and to duck when the abuser’s
hand comes down even when
trying to show others what a great

animal owner he is and the Occu-
pant does that all the time and
the Republicans do that servility

all the time and then I look at my
Chocolate Lab who looks back at
me and sometimes says, “Yeh,

you’re okay.” Sometimes comes
over for a hug, a pat, a kiss. And,
of course, the dogs always know.