Pity the Pittie

 

I

see the

look of fear

creep across their

faces, their

eyes

wide

with terror.

Tell me, Mommy.

I don’t understand.

What did

I

do

that scared

them so much?

Did I speak

too loud?

Was

I

wrong for

giving them kisses?

I only wanted

to show

love.

Why

don’t they

like me? I’m

a good girl,

aren’t I,

Mommy?

 

(The Hall of Mirrors Hay(na)ku is another one of my format variation creations. The original format, hay(na)ku, is a three line poem, where the first line is one word long, the second line two words, and the third line consists of three words. The reverse hay(na)ku is also three lines, but the first line is three words, the second line two, and the last line only one word. In 2019, I combined one verse of hay(na)ku and one verse reverse hay(na)ku and created the mirror hay(na)ku. The next year, I took things a step further and gave birth to the Hall of Mirrors hay(na)ku, which consists of five mirror hay(na)ku stanzas. This poem is what I feel like my super sweet pit bull DotDot might say if she could talk to me.)