Colin Barber

Sirius

Whenever he saw me, he thought I was the Devil. I thought I was a god. And when he bared his teeth, the gaps between the fence boards seemed to widen just enough to let me see how inexhaustibly he desired to kill and eat me.

The fence between us lost its life when he lost his; yet I cannot help but smile at the sound of my piss tonight, rehydrating its grey wood, as I pick out planets from the stars and think about the dog that made me feel like a god.

my shadow
the size of Orion
moonlit grass

Note: "my shadow" was previously published in Frogpond, 37:1, winter 2014