! They Only Feel Real When...

‘they only feel real when pretending to be themselves…’ sometimes, psychology and poetry and philosophy come close together; and like a dog meeting another dog for the first time, we’re cautious – that statement has legs and claws and teeth … do we want to meet it, might it be more fierce than it looks, is it that ‘too much truth’ which mankind - says poor Tom - cannot bear? our tails quarter-wag, wag and stop, our weight’s on our back legs, caution is advised.. we’ll back away right now, wait for the next meeting; meanwhile, there’s always the tree to sniff, a sharp reminder of the bone we’ll gnaw, hide, dig up yet again, and gnaw… gnawing on our own blood not the bone, living a dog’s life, a dogged life, mongrel, thoroughbred, alike: . only feeling real, when pretending to be ourselves.