Today's poem is by Jacqueline Berger

Not the Wolf but the Dog
       

Not the zebra but the horse,
not buffalo but cows,
maybe camels,
who abandoned the wild for the stable,
a stall lined in straw,
wee gables and eaves,
their name over the door—
Biscuit, Coco. Snowball, Ranger.
Who traded the hunt
for the daily bowl and dish,
predators for owners, collar and leash;
agreed to be a tool—plow or cart
or confidant—to breed in captivity.

So when the man in the elevator
at the Venetian holding his cardboard
tray of coffees and muffins
heading back to his room
says to no one in particular,
but most likely to the other man,
the three of us strangers,
I better get something in return for this,
"this" means fetching breakfast
so his wife can sleep,
I better get something for all of this,
gesturing with his head,
meaning the hotel, the dinners and shows,
when the man says this
I think about women
in staggering heels, breasts like missiles,
who'd rather be feral than kept,
and about men who gave up wilding
to claim their offspring.

I'm carrying my own tray
of coffees and muffins,
will soon press the card against the lock,
open the room, rip off my clothes,
throw back the three hundred
thread-count sheets, waking
my husband. He's met someone new
and now wants both
of his lives at once.
He can sleep later. These untamed
weeks, we're savaging,
flesh against flesh, ravishing
our marriage.

But soon the holidays will be over
and we'll fly home, his Christmas gifts,
back when he thought he knew
what he wanted,
waiting to be put away,
the meat injector—
what brine does to the bird—
downloadable eBook included,
and the wooden mallet ice crusher
with its own canvas bag
for making Moscow mules
in their frosted copper mugs.

The dog took what the wolf
refused and became Pekinese,
French Bull, but still needs
to be trained to heel and sit.
And still sometimes runs
when the door's left open and needs
to be shouted at to come home.

Copyright © 2024 Jacqueline Berger All rights reserved
from Left at the Ruin
Terrapin Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission