“Change”

I’ve been named o’ver dozen times
Been pet of twelve,
Old and young,
Male and female,
I loved it better there,
never realized I was losing
when sold here.
Each previous home feels safer,
I was better of then,
this was always my first thought,
am I poor at fiddling with change?
Didn’t anticipate how change will change me,
Didn’t know how it would make me feel, fulfilled, fool.

Not all change made me what I wanted,
not the best I wanted to be,
once was I like plague,
to another, friend,
And now a trouble here,
I’d have love to be cat,
she gets more attention,
or better be rabbit
or a bird with stuck leg in cage,
they get more care that way,
but everyone feel I’m strong
I’m tough enough to be unsupported,

I bark, chase and get backed
Being backed I’m mad
Being mad I bite
Hated, stoned, I ran and strayed
to become a pet of another again…
am I created superior?
who am I?
a dog? a pet? a friend or foe or the four?
have I a right at all?
am I created inferior?
I sniff, I sense, I bark?
But I’m more than these!

-olaotan odunuga