Idolatry

[Tiger the Lion]

Idolatry

In the beginning 
I was the puppy

ears pricked
tail furious
peering out the windows

You could have eaten me
with a soup spoon
but consumed me instead

with shapes and shadows
indigestible, sublime

I gorged and gagged,
gorged and gagged,

(and might have forever
gorged and gagged)

had I not gotten my snout slapped
for my own damn good

I slunk away 
in that defeated way 

that only a puppy 
could slink away