Mongrel

 I’m just a dog to you. That is me. I know all the tricks you’ve taught me to amuse you; sit, stay, beg, speak. I know how to make you smile. I devote my love to you and only you, because I am a dog. But, you cannot love a dog as you do a man. You love a dog like a dog, deeply perhaps, but with a love of friendship and ownership.

 You are my priority, while I am not even an option for you. I am your pet, to be done with as you please. I bask in the affection you give me, or I sit patiently and wait for your attention. I growl and bark at those people you choose over me, from jealousy or my need to protect you, I cannot say. But I am just a dog, you need pay me no mind.

 It doesn’t matter what I say, so long as I’m here when you return, your good little dog. Whether it’s to sit while you pet me and talk of your great day, or to hold me and cry in my fur as you tell me how you’ve been hurt again, I am here for it. What else can I do, after all? I cannot open the door myself. I cannot let myself free. I just live on the scraps of attention you give me from the table of your life. And that is enough, because I am just a dog.