Purebred

I fear that I will always love like a dog.
I fear that I will always sit at your door waiting —
fresh kill in between my jaws
— my canines sunk into the poor thing’s flesh.
“Look at me, I am here. I love you, I bring you kill.”

I fear that I will always love like a dog.
I fear that what we share in temperament —
the quick bite, the quick thrill
— is also what we share in doom.
“We are cut from the same cloth, mirroring one another. your past and my future.”

I fear that I will always love like a dog.
I fear that when the time comes and i find myself loving —
the knife you give to cut fruit and food will be the same knife I use to butcher meat
— I fear that the passion we both share will strike at anyone close enough to bite.

“Look at me, I am still here. I love you, I’m sorry that I bite.”