I wish I bit you when you kissed my nose
at the capsule hatch / sealed my world
from the world & left me sitting 3 long
days on the launch pad flat / bare belly
trellised with sensors / coat alcohol-
rubbed / & I mean really chomp you /
give you a face made for radio / the way
I nipped the soldier’s gloved palm on
the Moscow street / (that was low-down
you know) / (putting the good salami
before the starving stray / catch-all
haloing round / & after /
nothing but gel rations / the centrifuge /
the blood test / but it wasn’t all bad /
& that’s what made it worse / why
ever be tender / why the trip home
to see the children / the yard / I had never
seen a yard / why the scratch beneath
the chin / & I think that is why I regret you
most / not for fire / heat / rocket-death /
but the good life’s silver / a taste of what
a mutt can get in this country / & still /
will you admit it / you’d have traded places
in an instant / to know what is felt
through rumbling steel & wire / what
it means to hold your breath & let it go on
the other side of heaven / because I will
not tell you / because you made me /
& I have been unmade / the first /
the only / the dog doggoned.