Quintessence of Consternation

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Quintessence of Consternation

When I was a lot littler than ten
our family used to have pets,
2 dogs to be exact –
even though I was very allergic
to furry critters.

Maybe it was just lack of
supervision or just innocent play
but not long after I gave the dogs
a rubberband necklace
in our backyard there were now
two graves.

I’ve outgrown most of those
childhood allergies,
save for cattle and horses.
I have not outgrown that memory
the dogs play with me
and my glee outside.
Only faintly do I recall
when I was small
how I choked the breath
out of 2 living beings.

I don’t even remember tears
though they appear
now and then,
today.




unique word count: 87