Most read ▸
Surprised by Dogs
I am surprised by dogs
when I am told
that all of them were developed
from the wolf:
think of the Pomeranian (its ears!)
the Tibetan spaniel (its skirts!)
the Dalmatian (its spots!).
All of whom once
had eyes that glow red in the dark
had limbs that leap above human height
and howls that fill the arctic emptiness
starvation that tears the throat of a child
dentition that rips the flesh from the bone.
No wolf developed ulcers
through sheepdog trials or leading the blind,
no wolf through carrying a newspaper