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He turned mean after the surgery.
We never recovered.
Some dogs just prefer
to drag themselves under
the porch, groan into the damp
shade, refuse food.

He pushed off my kindness
like one of those silly plastic lampshades
dogs wear to protect them
from roughing out their stitches.

His growls I could take
for what they were, man in pain
lost in the tunneling shadows of it
but long after the chemo
we were still barking all the time.