Disfigured Puppies

My mind is a stranger
Where puppies used to live, prance, and love
But
Bear claws left their vengeance there
Dried blood fluids paint pictures where
Oversized claws abrade my future
Seized memories left shaken long ago

The phoenix however, it stares back
Waiting to pounce and grow
In spite of the lacerations
Walk over the bridge to the other side, if you will
The bridge, it partially disintegrates as I walk over it
The dust scatters behind my heels
Past crumbles away with each step I take
Where there’s music and connections and happy thoughts
And puppies play with three legs
Still prancing and playing with smiling eyes and tails wagging
Transformed, almost there!
The false summit tricks and pranks
Another obstacle came to light
My mind, it is
Reluctant and afraid of the future
There might be more bears from my hamstrung mind
Lurking forward, waiting to hinder the future

I look back at landscapes past
It stares back at me, disfigured and real
Leaning forward, I put my elbow on the table
Arm shaped in a V with my hand open
Reaching forward for grip with puppies past
And geared up
For the fight
Opposite lay the formidable opponent
Reaching with their elbows rested too
Blemished hands engulf mine
Geared up to fight back
Thunder claps and claps as we
Wrestle together
Grunting and sweating, the past rears its head
As I push so so hard and fight and cry
The back of my hand taps the table in defeat
This time, again as
The before time memories linger
They do not fully release me
I’m pleading and crying for them to
They still smell like tequilia and cigarette smoke

Let the puppies free, Let the puppies free
Chants the crowd
The puppies in my mind are phoenixes in disguise
They will surface again and spit in the pasts faces
The table is still there
The disfigured puppies are still there
My elbow, it slams back down on the table
Geared up for round 23
The Phoenix eyes widen with hope
Of the final round