Why I Woke Up Screaming from the Dream About a Dog-Man Running at Me with His Puppies

Yes, he was half dog 
and grotesque 
but most men are 
so that doesn’t 
narrow it down–

It was the way his furred body
sleek and slanted over, 
scuttling toward me 
like a promise–

It was our distance,
shrinking with each gallop,
until I could see the blood 
crusted in his claws
and his wide, wet, dark eyes–

The absurdity of all the
flopping legs and ears 
on our sunburnt suburban street.
Joggers and neighbors
smiled and waved
as he passed by with his herd 
of happy little pups. 
So maybe I screamed 
because no one was reacting right

—but that’s not quite it—

No.
The scream was
a mix of delicious disgust,
of religious relief,
an unexpected moment 
between the two of us,
of like witnessing like.