You don’t want to hear my sad tale,
It was not too pretty a sight,
Cover your eyes and close your ears,
And don’t let me give you a fright,
But I wound Dad’s wound in towels,
After a big dog took a bite.
© Susan Joy Clark 2021
This poem was written in response to dVerse’s Monday quadrille challenge. I’m not sure how I feel about this poem. It has a strange, almost silly feel for such a serious incident. Then again, a graphic retelling would be far worse, I think. I guess it fulfills all the requirements which is 44 words, no more or less, and the homographs “wound” and “wound.”
When I thought about “wound” and “wound,” this is where my brain took me. I did not know I would make the incident a subject of poetry. 😛 Dad and I were bitten by a dog in mid-August. My injury was more minor. Dad required two surgeries for his wound, but he is doing just fine now. We are thankful to God there was no major damage to joints or structures of the hand.
Oh my! I spend a lot of time walking and running outdoors, and I am so scared of angry dogs! I am glad your dad is okay. I like what you did with the words that popped in your head. Very creative! 🙂
Thank you, Ash. 🙂 I’m a little more cautious than I once was, but I’m still a dog lover. I take care of animals, and this was my first really bad incident. Strangely, the dog was calm again shortly after the attack. The owner drove back from his vacation to pick him up.
Wow! Sounds like quite the ordeal! I have 3 dogs, and I am a huge fan of them, too. Sometimes things just get a little wacky, I guess. Looking forward to more of your poetry! ❤
Thank you so much. 🙂
Oh, no!
In a way, I like the fact that you wrote it in a silly way, exactly BECAUSE it is a serious incident. There’s something jarring about that.
Thank you so much. I appreciate your kind comment. 🙂 <3
Great poem, but what an awful thing to happen!
It was a pretty terrible thing at the time, but Dad had great surgeons who, first closed the wound and then did a skin graft. It’s wonderful that it didn’t do any deeper, worse damage. It was quite a “cover your eyes” sort of thing. One of my brothers came over for emotional support soon afterwards, and I had a lot of cleaning to do to make things look decent before he did so. Thank you for your nice comment, Kate.
Holy Shamoley. Did you take legal action against the owner, Susan?
<3
David
Thank you, David. It wasn’t necessary. The owner felt awful and offered to pay for any expenses insurance didn’t cover.
Good use of the prompt for a retelling of an incident that did indeed happen. Sometimes we need a lighter touch after a serious event.
It looks, from the comments, like you were taking care of a dog while the owner was on vacation when the dog turned on you and your dad. So frightening….even more so to know the dog was calm and quiet after the attack. To me that says this is a dog not to be trusted. I wonder if the owner knew its tendencies before s/he left the dog with you? I sadly, many many years ago when I was single and in grad school, had a dog I loved. But for whatever reason, it became very protective of me….so much so that it would snarl and try to bite anyone who approached me. Not good. I had to euthanize the dog. Very sad to do but in the end, much better than having something like this happen.
Glad your dad is doing better and sorry you both had to go through this.
Thank you, Lillian. 🙂 I appreciate your kind and thorough comments. I don’t think the owner had any idea the dog would behave like this, because it was a rescue dog he’d only had for a couple of months. It seemed like a “good dog” at other times. I am sorry about the dog you had to euthanize. 🙁
I’m glad everyone is okay! Nice wrapping around to tell the story with the benefit of distance from the event.
Thank you! 🙂
My Goodness! It is difficult to look at Dad and his bandaged hands … my son and years later my grandson were bitten by dogs …. I recognize the emotion. Glad your wasn’t as horrific. Cheers to all.
It was, actually, fairly horrific, although the damage could have been much worse. It was still a severe wound of a sort (a lot of missing skin) and hard to see as a daughter. Dad was strangely calm, and I was the one who panicked as I called my brother first and then 911. Thanks for your sympathetic comment. 🙂
Oh my goodness, this is a shocking tale! I am pleased to hear there was no major damage to your dad’s hand. Well done for being brave and binding those wounds. I would probably have fainted!
Thank you so much, Ingrid. It wasn’t easy, but I knew I had to get a grip on myself. 😛 🙂
Yikes! That is such a terrible thing to happen. I am glad to know that the damage wasn’t too serious. Sending love and prayers. 💝💝
Thank you, Sanaa. <3
What an awful experience. Thank goodness no major injuries. I can see why this incident sprang to mind with the prompt. Hope you’re all OK now.
Thank you. 🙂 Dad’s scar is fading, and my finger looks perfectly normal. Somehow, I’m not that afraid of dogs still, but I will probably be more cautious with unknown ones.
That’s good to hear. And, gosh yes, I would be extremely cautious about unknown dogs in the future.
Using a lighthearted voice to retell an awful event is a great way… tomorrow’s prompt will show you another example.
Thank you, Bjorn. Now, I’m very curious about tomorrow’s prompt.
Oh no, that is a serious accident. Hope everything is okay now.
Yeah. We are okay now. 🙂