{"sf1_id":2246199,"sf2_id":"Jew5q4bn","title":"Black Dog Fishing","author":"Dakaar","words":169,"posted_at":"2025-04-24T09:14:26.000Z","tags":["Poetry"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2246199-black-dog-fishing","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/Jew5q4bn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/d1/1e/d11ed42e-db9b-4100-86af-60d7f62eb416","description":"Freeform poetry from the introspective collection, Black Dog, that runs with a folkloric figure that is often associated with misfortune and used as a metaphor for depression. Black Dog looks at this figure and gives him a voice, letting him bark back at a society that's already made up its mind about him.","content":"He wishes he had the wherewithal to breathe water.\n\n \n\nTo sink\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nwillingly,\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nwithout drowning,\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nand be surrounded but still himself,\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\na nested bubble\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nin a force that would hold him.\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\n \n\nIt weaves like a dragon between the green -\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nthe fish in a puddle moves with more self-assurance\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nthan the rangy lope\n\n \n\nof a Black Dog,\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\na purity of purpose that’s as effortless\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nand dazzling\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nas the metal shimmer of fins.\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\n \n\nTo move through something,\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nand let it lift you.\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nThe Black Dog holds his snout under\n\n \n\nto watch the fish menace snails that bead\n\n \n\nas unhurried perspiration on the pebbles,\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nand the fish swells with himself,\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nmade large as a splash of blood\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nblossoming in the water.\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nHe’s as big as he believes himself to be.\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\n \n\nSure of his magnificence\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nthe fish rises up,\u0026nbsp;\n\n \n\nsips the air,\n\n \n\nand the Black Dog snorts bubbles\n\n \n\nand lifts his dripping chops\n\n \n\nand reels at the inequity - he can breathe my world while his, an abyss,\n\n \n\nI can’t even howl into.","series":{"name":"Black Dog","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2243804-the-black-dog-takes-a-walk.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2247491-the-black-dog-meets-the-devil.json"}}