Hulking and ordinarily
swaggering jocund—
a thick-
witted moose of an
oily black labrador
suddenly—
upon nosing
the fresh-
ly bloated brown back-alley
corpse I'd
failed to notice—recoils
in a flash—momentarily
unsettled,
as to whether
to double
back and—subsequently lunge after
the poor vermin
out of blithe
hunger
or compassion—
though certainly not
for her lack—
of both.
