Abandoned lab, coat stained the color of midnight, with the twinkle of every star in the sky
Combined, multiplied, shining, blinding, in just one blazing, green eye
Fur the texture of freshly sterilized hotel bed sheets, the kind trying too hard to smell of home
Charm that masked the danger he cloaked in his lies
Eyes that held the power to cure disease and hypnotize
Paws methodically burned on scalding, cracked pavement
Hidden wounds decorated his once-whole soul

How ironic that a stray would be the one to teach me that even scars could bite back
Dogs with a past like his hide terror, hide damage beneath their gaze
But him, that prowling stray had this unforgiving stare that was stone-cold and red-hot all at once

We touched & stroked & sniffed & smiled until no distance remained
I felt his heartbeat, inhaled his dog breath, and simply basked in the gentle glow of him

The first time he bit me, my flesh seemed to glow angry-red
Overpowering the disenchantment of adolescence
The second time he bit me happened before I even had time to sterilize the first wound
His teeth dug deeper, much deeper than the first time
By the fifth bite, the wound was weeping more than I
Once whole flesh, now turned infection, tainted by germs and a fatal one-way affection
Looking down at my wounds, I knew our time had expired
He shifted; first distressed, then distraught, then disdained, and finally done

I watched as my stray woefully limped away to hound another victim
How pitiful that I had to be the one to say it hurt to be bitten