Bite’s worse than your bark
It was your rite of passage
It was my permanent reminder
Pride struck right out my jaw
A gap was made inside me
Tears obscured me from your guise
Mouth masked with blood
Left canine tooth gone
Helpless prey, to be cannibalized

Teeth sank bone deep
My flesh then the meat
Stripped away from me
Whimpering to crying
Your bites turned to gnawing
Scrapping for the marrow

“Every dog has its day”
Misery turned towards bitterness
I built up my growl, my snarl
I wanted to bit back; I fantasized over it
I’d leave my bite-marks, voids
Instilled into you
Or at least some other mutt
Anyone with a poorer set of teeth
That gave me any sort of reason to
I would bite back, down to the bone
I scrapped for the marrow
Just to see them break

And I finally did it.
I bit back, hard as I can
It felt good; my gap was filled
At first
My marrow was depleted
Snapped open, bones contorted
I was hallow, feeling empty

Then I realized
That’s how you must feel
All the time

I was told all this advice
How to stand up to you, to tell on you
But I’ve come to know
More people like you are out there
All over, canines ready to feed
They can nibble about my toes
But I’ll still be standing here, happy
And they’ll be on all fours, being just them
I thought these bite marks would last forever
That’s what being a kid does to you
Everything seems like it’ll last forever
But things change; life changes
Dog days come to an end
You won’t always be around
And neither will I
Neither will anyone else
Sometimes I wonder about you
Did you become a man?

Or did you stay a dog?