dog soup

This defunct Siberian mining town is a wasteland
tonight we were so hungry we ate dog soup
I think I found the bullet from where we shot it
(though perhaps it was a stray bone)

I’ve been reading the diary of the last guy
who lived here with his wife and kids
the baby died
and they were so hungry they ate it
it doesn’t make me feel so bad about eating
some useless dog that lingered too long
on the edge of town
as hungry as we are and looking for food
better than cutting up my little sister
I'd rather die that eat her

And it's not like I’ll be telling anyone
that our family is so poor
we’ve resorted to eating dog
if caught the law has handcuffs
to drag us away with in a public spectacle
before we get thrown into the decrepit jailhouse
where they’ll abuse anyone stupid enough
to get arrested
on the lone nights
when the stray dogs have scattered
and there is nothing left to shoot at

© Indie Adams 2015


Note: piece was inspired by a documentary about a guy travelling through Mongolia, with nothing more than a tent, some supplies, a packhorse and his pet dog. His dog went missing in a town where it was reported the poor shot the stray dogs for meat.

Written for Madam Lavender's Pick a List comp, List #7