By Fenrir Mercury
A wonderful day, mid October.
Cool, crisp air that truly tastes like fall.
I feel so content, napping under a tree
But I look up to see something that isn’t right at all.
I clamber up the tree, clawing into the bark
Past branch after branch, all on my own.
Do my eyes dare deceive me?
Could it really be a bone?
I reach out to touch it, to make sure it’s real
But I blink and now it’s gone.
How could I see a femur nestled in a tree?
No matter, I must now move on.
But wait, I smell something
It’s coming from the house
What could I be smelling?
Perhaps crumbs left behind for a mouse?
Alas, I was wrong!
It happened again, this time a jaw.
And once again I blink and it disappears,
What explanation could there be for what I saw?
A scapula under my pillow,
A patella behind the door,
A pile of ribs in my empty bowl.
I don’t know if I can take much more.
Everytime I blink I see more and more
They’re still there, I have nightmares as I sleep.
These mysterious bones are everywhere,
All I can do is curl up in a ball and weep.
I can’t take it anymore,
They’re all I see when I open my eyes.
My world is made of bones.
My mind’s reason for this turmoil I truly despise.
And then I look down,
Pearly white sticks replacing my wonderful paws.
I want to scream yet have no voice,
All that can be heard are my clacking jaws.
Yet there must be sound, for here comes my keeper!
Surely, they’ll free me from this nightmare.
“Woah there boy, it’s ok! Poor thing, you must be starving.”
They lead me over to my bowl, and now I see the truth! It’s bare!
It’s over, it’s all finally over!
I wag my tail for belly rubs, for now I’m safe and home.
They fill my bowl and fix the collar around my neck,
The tag on which proudly reads “Bones”.