............I.

............Our watchdog, Respect,

was a biter so he rarely went anywhere.

He spent most of his life in the basement

            and the yard.

 

............Maurice would praise

the way he watched our perimeter. If

someone threatens us, he won’t act like

            you – worrying for them.

 

            Those two – who’d known combat –

and me – we made three. I’d say I love Respect.

............Maurice used ‘Spect’s vigilance

in parables about predators, who are always stopped

           

............by fear – never by mercy.

 

            II.             

............17^th Street is hard. ‘Spect’s

nose and ears and eyes were steeped

in burdens.  He stood it, but sometimes

            he trembled, catatonic,

 

and wouldn’t eat for three or four days.

............When ‘Spect’s eyes emptied,

Maurice considered him dangerous. Leave

            that dog alone if you really

 

............love him. If he turns on you and

bites, I’ll have to shoot him. But how does a mammal return

from a sorrowing trance, if no one touches him?  

............I brushed ‘Spect’s ears

 

............and said good boy, good boy.

 

............III.

............That weariness in the air and silent fury,

deranged ‘Spect many times but didn’t kill him.

He knew – he knew life is harsh – but he was loyal to it. Life

............was responsibilities and food.

 

............So he always came back

from those spells. I’d fill his bowl with milk. After studying

his eyes, Maurice would temper water to bathe him,

............then croon while working suds

 

............through his stringy hair. Responsibilities

are sweet, because they’re social. We were three

till ‘Spect was fifteen and full of tumors. We

............took him to be released, with a final shot,

 

............in 2003, on Martin Luther King Day.

 

............IV. 

............January is hard – some days

even milk has more color than the sky.

My charcoal coat sits heavy, and radio ads

............are pious. Aim high, achieve –

 

............because Martin Luther King

Had a Dream. I shiver for the costumed wavers who

stand on Capitol Drive, wearing foam rubber crowns

............for Liberty Tax. That office used to be

 

............Respect’s vet, but everything changes.

Or maybe, nearly nothing does. Even so, there’s

no life in indifference. I remember how ‘Spect loved milk.

............When we set his bowl down, he got up,

 

............and lapped it with the passion

...................of a prophet.

           

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