Poem 113 – Cute Aggression

Cute Aggression

I watched five Labrador puppies
curl and scrunch into a small black bucket

then a sixth puppy leapt on top of the pile
six puppies curved & cuddled & curiously happy

it made me feel cute aggression
it made me squeeze my hands to my chest & curse

such easy joy
such gushing

*

pups in a bucket
six fur balls fit into one
love is worth the risk

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Do you ever watch dog videos on youtube? We watch them pretty often, actually, because our pooch Pages, she loves to watch television or any screen that has cartoons or animals on it. See?

She tilts her head like she understands what she’s seeing and hearing, and when she gets really excited, she kisses the screen and looks behind it as if to meet the animals on the other side. It’s wild. In any case, watching cute puppy videos triggers in me what my friend Mariette taught me is: cute aggression. Cute aggression is when you feel so overwhelmed with what you’re seeing because it’s so damn cute that you curse or say things like: I want to bite it’s face, or I want to punch it. Okay…maybe that’s going a little far, but that’s cute aggression. Of course, I didn’t actually bite or punch anyone/thing! Thanks to Jett for showing me the video of the puppies. Thanks to Mariette for teaching me the term. Thanks to all those who post cute puppy videos. They really make ya feel so good!

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This weekend I’m participating in the CV2 Two-Day Poetry writing contest. I did it last year for the first time. It was really fun and challenging. Anyone else participating this year? If so, good luck!