Rin Tin Tin in Retirement by Glen Armstrong

He no longer barked at aircraft beating the sky into puzzles and only sometimes lifted his muzzle toward the traffic taking off and landing at Mines Field. The world was only fooling, like a mean kid whose gestures were false, who never released the ball. His appetite was good until the end. His trainer kept him warm.

He was the favored canine, the canine the favored animal.

In a world that skinned with purpose.

In a world where the kill was more than simple sustenance.

© Copyright 2016 Glen Armstrong. All rights reserved.
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Glen Armstrong holds an MFA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and teaches writing at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He edits a poetry journal called Cruel Garters and has three recent chapbooks: Set List (Bitchin Kitsch,) In Stone and The Most Awkward Silence of All (both Cruel Garters Press.) His work has appeared in Poetry Northwest, Conduit and BlazeVOX.

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