Where Dogs Lie Poem by Ijanric Howe

The boy walked the line of the street
between the houses where the dogs lie;
peered into bins, dragged his feet,
and ate what dogs had left,

stepping over the bodies.


He came to the end of the street;
bodies piled up in the square
between the empty stalls.

On the air, rotting fruit,
among the rotting fruit,
the piled dead; piled and rotting.

He stooped to pick up
a handful of used shells,

and turned to walk the line of the street
between the houses where the dogs lie;
peer into bins, drag his feet,
and eat what dogs had left.