Rottweiler

Yellow teeth,

            Strong jaws,

                        Bloody lips,

Belladonna,

            Survivor,

                        Dead

That’s what they say makes a fighter

Use them

            bodies broken beyond repair

Feed them little

            makes meat, even dog meat, appealing

Poke and Prod

            sharper sticks make the profits go up

Metal Crates

            never comfortable unless they’re in the ring

Forced to live

            Body wants to live

Mind overpowered

            Instinct rushing out of the gate growling

Not daunted by ribs poking out of sides

Not scared of a large, lean muscle bound bitch

Open the latch fast

            Jump back quicker

            Gotta be quicker than the bite - worse than the bark

No barking, snarl

                        Ears back, tail up

                                    Don’t look down, don’t back up

                                    Go forward, shove them back

Into dark corners, metal edges

            Don’t look scared, whites of the eyes not daring show

Yellow teeth

            Fake light shining from behind

Tables turned

            Faster than the light, move past

            Wide body past a skinny frame

Snarl, no mercy, no understanding

            It hurts to understand

Everything hurts

            Pain, sharp in the side

Retaliate

            Pain, in the mind

Flesh and Blood

            That’s what we’re made of

Love

            That’s what we’re missing

Turned another switch

            Clumsy larger paws fumbling around the circle turning

            Ready to strike

Every side turning in

            It feels like a trial

Why is she on trial?

            Nothing wrong

            Nothing wrong except losing

Red Teeth

            Stronger Jaw

                        Bloody Wounds

Lose

            Loser

                        Lost

That’s what they say makes a dead dog.

Beaten and Broke

            Just lunge already

                        These large unsteady paws are failing

Lost blood clouds vision

            All it would take is one more wound

                        Body already turning against

Just like you did

Kin, Kith, Comrade

Is this mercy?

            Thought it would be sweeter, shorter

                        Think it is bittersweet and baleful

                                    Now though it is nothing

Final blows struck

            Nimble paws and a vice jaw are the end

End of story

            End of my story

Maybe it was worth it...not to continue.

Doberman

She’s beautiful

            that’s the first thing people say about her

She’s big

            that’s the second thing people say about her

She’s dangerous

            that’s the third thing people say about her

I didn’t know that

            was the last thing they said about her

Tall, regal, proud

            docked tail, pointed ears, keen eyes, square frame, stately figure bred into her

                        It would all be torn from her as well

Intelligent, smart, cunning

            years of breeding, instinct to defend, humans they made her mind

                        They would destroy it as well

Change of hands

            Family of two to a family of three to no family at all

Big hands, strong arms

            Always away from her snapping maw

Bed replaced with bars

            Cold steel cramping every inch of her body

            Grated patterns ruining every hair on her coat

Red teeth marring everything else

            But she was always a fast learner

Big, Bad, Barbarian

            muscles, sharp edges, vigilant eyes, shadows

                        brought out into the open

vengeful, vicious, Rotten

            aggression, durability, cunning, instincts to kill

                        brought out into the limelight of the fighting ring

Another fight, odds stacked against her

            So many practice fights lost, this would be the first real one - or the last

But it wasn’t, not for her anyways

            Two fresh dogs, hanging to the vestiges of memory

            But it was her who let go

The same way she let go of the limp patch of skin she had clung to in the last moment

            Blood on her gums

Murderer

            All she could be and would be now

            Until the tables turned

More fights, more bets

            Always currency changing hands around her as she strained to get free

                        Of that cramped cage

            Even if only to be backed up against a wall, the tables always turned

            And when she struck there were no walls

                        Blood flowed freely in the ring

Odds in her favor for this round

            She charged from her cage snarling

            Smaller dog but wider than she - not intimidating or intimidated

Backing the her against the wall

            Eyes gleaming

                        From the light

                        From the fight

                        Dying out into the night

Their positions flipped, and she bellowed back - refusing to go down

Again she changed, changed the game

            Was that what this was? A game

            Some sick and twisted game

            Some adrenaline rush, gushing through her blood

            Onto the dirt floor

The her went down, went down fighting - until she lost

She paced the ring, victorious and lost

Dwindling Body

            Would soon be unable to move

Lost mind

            Where to go and what to do

Was it worth it...to continue?

            Maybe one day her body would say no.

Police

His eyes were gleaming

            From the light

            From the fight

            Dying out into the night

Hardly believing what he was seeing

            First time at a dog fight

            He brought a gun to a dog fight

Others rushed around him and he sprung into action

            Protocols, there were protocols for this

            Things he needed to do, things he was trained to do for this

            How much more of this was there?

A dead body in the middle of the ring

            Someone checked for a pulse

            Sticky and red, blood still stuck around matting the throat

            The skinny throat and skinny body of a big dog - a Rottweiler

He could already hear the cars pulling out

            People rushing out

            Not wanting to be caught on their way out

            Not caring about the dog laying out

Metal crates, haphazardly holding a circle

            One filled piqued his curiosity

            Light hitting steel and brown eyes

He remembered brown eyes

A different face

            kind and gentle

A different dog

            small and sweet

A different place

            home

Scampering through the forest, little dog by his side

Biking on forgotten trails, little dog in the basket

Going through the drive through, little dog hanging out the window

Childhood friend, when his other friends were busy

White fur and big brown eyes staring into his

Pleading brown eyes as it begged for another scrap

Bright brown eyes as it chased after a stick

Smart brown eyes as it fixated on the treat, bum firmly on the floor

Curious brown eyes as it greeted his friends

He called the right number

            animal control

Perhaps they would take this dog to the shelter

He remembered a shelter

            Birthdays and surprises

Running down the isles, looking at the oddly shaped and sized fascinations

Until he saw a little smile grinning up at him

Those big brown eyes forcing him to lean over and pick the dog up

            His best friend

And he almost couldn’t believe how different two pairs of big brown eyes could look.