Forever Home

I should never have called them your dogs
they were our dogs
& also their own beings
dumdums at the end of something
get hung up on ownership
but those puppies just laughed
& kept laughing with faces
naturally shaped that way
never stopping loving
entangled survival
dependent on us

People get fragile about steak
some cuts are better than others
more than medium is ruined
& medium is practically burnt
ketchup is a joke
A-1 is just a smokescreen
for how you fucked up
Dogs gobble down every crumb
like chateaubriand
hoovering at my feet while I’m doing dishes
The sound means something more
might fall

It took a month to figure out
I wasn’t going back
Survival minds cannot dwell too long
back to tasting the air
beside the dining table
years go by & nothing
then out of nowhere
food falls

Waiting patient hopeful
every preparation & cleanup
another chance
to be called good & know it
to belong to someone & know it
yours mine anyone’s
forever home

Tony Brewer is a poet and audio artist from Bloomington, Indiana. He has published 12 books and chapbooks, including Centaur (with Jonathan S Baker, Dark Heart Press, 2024) and Good Job, Lightning (Stubborn Mule Press, 2024). He is a frequent collaborator with experimental music & field recording ensemble ORTET. More at https://linktr.ee/TonyBrewer