Dead Animal #5: Prince Poem by Chocolate Waters

He was a Doberman Pinscher
allowed to lay on my bed at night
to protect me

handsome
regal
especially before they trimmed his ears
his tail
Those ugly white adhesive bandages
How I suffered with him

One day my brother, Bob, tied him to his bicycle -
when Prince tried to escape
the bicycle followed
I witnessed his terror

A few years later when I came home from school
No Prince
Mom was wearing a beaver coat that day
and Prince
probably thinking it was another animal
playfully nipped at the coat
Always terrified of him
Mom called Uncle Merle in distress
Prince had 'turned' on her
Together they put him down

First published in Big City Lit,2019. The picture of Prince was taken in front of my Grandma's house in GA, circa 1960.