speaking back to our dog
in words as she barks
whines
shrieks
because she
hurt her leg
*again*
(is this the fifth time? sixth? seventh that we are aware of?)
(definitely the third since surgery)
and the worst part of all this is,
to her little puppy brain,
having to stay still in a cage
while we are out, but within her sight—
caught in crate rest
unable to express her freedom;
how terribly cruel, she must think us,
for insisting she lay herself down
rather than hop up on two legs
(only one of which is at full health)—
and yet she continues to speak at us
in ways we don’t quite understand
(and least in an exact kind of way,)
but we know her intruder barks
her ‘there’s a cat there!’ barks
her ‘my toy is stuck somewhere i can’t reach’
and her ‘my best friend is outside without me!’
and this is definitely a ‘why can’t i just be myself
and roam rambunctiously free’ bark
but if she continues
to freak out
and only listen to her commands
for a few seconds at a time,
it will be puppy solitary
for the next little while
(which feels more cruel
but at least she stops
being a menace to her own
health)