BEHIND BARS:

A dog called Reg ends up inside my camera,
He’s funny,
Makes me laugh,
“Can you take him Paul. He’s driving me crazy!”
Reg & Paul belong to a woman,
Who repeats the name of her husband,
On a loop,
Telling him what she wants him to do,
Tweaking instructions,
Nudging the controls,

Paul lifts Reg in his arms,
Dances with him,
Reg looks happy as another woman exclaims,
“No, don’t do that! Let the dogs run free!”
The dancing stops,
Paul tries to carry on smiling,
His face stalled in a practised grin,
He was happy,
So was Reg,
They retreat,
Heads down,
In ritual repeat,

Today,
The people here are angry,
Frustrated,
Suppressed,
Show their animals more love than to each other,
Cuddling & stroking,
Barking at & tolerating one another,
Sighing in exasperation,
Often,
Latent aggression towards their humans,
Openly expressing love for their animals,
Like a weapon,
Pointed,
It’s a dark energy to be around in the morning,
Though the music in the background is light,
I came here for the meditation,
And a little focus on positivity,

I put on my coat,
Pack my bag,
And leave,
There’s a chill wind on the street,
But it’s warmer than in here,
My dear

(K)