Born in the year of the dog & bitten

by one six years later walking home solo

from first grade & turning into an alley

where a brown mutt mounted a dirty poodle

I didn’t take their bodies for orange

cones to swerve or turn back from

I paused & watched as they humped in front

of a garage belonging to the blue building

where we rented the back end of a second floor

apartment while my tia resided in the front half

I walked into their barked warnings

heading towards the back door of home  

by staying close to garages & garbage cans

until I got too close & the cur got off

the poodle & mounted my body

in a different way w/stiff paws

& claws that tore at my face

w/a tongue lapping up blood

w/a nose pelting my forehead wet

w/teeth peeling off my skin

only to reveal fur below

I became a pup yelping for help

for rescue by a hero named Lucio

a third-grader who strode by & heard

my cries & scared the canine away

& guided me to the front of my building

where fear forced me to climb up

the fire escape where my mom & tia

sat & chatted during warm days

I grasped rung after rung as blood

tears & snot clung to my face

which my mother cleaned w/burning

hydrogen peroxide & cotton balls

as my stepfather grabbed his BB gun

& pumped & pumped to fire out

the back window at the dawdling dogs

who ran away from each missed shot

as I howled from being licked