The black dog has started barking
Old memories have started tracking
Emotions that again start descending.
What woke the black dog out of sleep ?
That makes this pain run so deep ?
My sandy eyes begin to weep.
When the black dog comes, here’s the task
Keep him hidden, put on a mask
About my tears, hope no one asks.
Go to work, put on a face
Expressions to show no black dog’s trace
How am I gonna act in grace ?.
The black dog screams “you are dumb”
All you can eat is from life’s crumbs
You won’t survive until happenstance comes.
The sky is not blue & the grass is not green
Nothing is good the black dog screams
How did life turn out this mean ?.
I begin to ask, “what’s the lie” ?
The dog is wrong, I don’t want to die
What is the source of these sighs ?
Slowly, slowly I see the truth
The pain subsides like an aching tooth
Perspective & love bring me a break-through.
The barking has stopped: no more dog
I’m now in the clear: no more fog
I’ve discovered to whom I belong !.
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This poem is an awesome and powerful allegory. I could picture the "dog" attacking and can so relate to those horrible you are dumb messages. I noticed after some question marks, you also had a period and when using dialog like “what’s the lie” ?, capitalize the W and put the punctuation inside the quotation marks--“What’s the lie?"(It also looks like you have a space between your last letters and question marks.)I think this is the type of poem that gives the reader chills. i can feel the passion and the warning in your words. Awesome writing.
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