From Puppy Love to Doubt
Write a darkly comic spoken-word folk song about changing feelings toward dogs. Use acoustic guitar, upright bass, brushed drums, and clarinet. Explore affection turning to discomfort, especially around dogs licking faces after licking themselves.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
You were my first love
Not the playground crush
The floppy-eared tyrant
Who ate the sofa and my homework in one afternoon
I shared my secrets
Into a fur-muffled ear
Tiny hand on your ribs
Counting breaths like prayers before sleep
Your breath smelled like
Stolen meat and mystery
But I called it "puppy"
Like that word could bless anything
[Chorus]
I used to let you kiss my face
Full on the mouth
No hesitation
Thought it was trust
Thought it was fate
Now I know where that tongue’s been lately
I used to say it's just how they show love
Swore it was pure
Swore it was sweet
But you lick your own ass in the daylight
Then come looking for my cheek
[Verse 2]
There’s that moment on the couch
You hop up
Grinning
Tail drawing figure-eights in the air
And I see it happen in slow motion
You finish your… inspection
Of places best left unnamed
Then trot over casual
Like a surgeon skipping the scrub-in
Everyone laughs
“What a sweetheart
She loves you”
I’m calculating surface area
Of microbial warfare on my lips
[Chorus]
I used to let you kiss my face
Full on the mouth
No hesitation
Thought it was trust
Thought it was fate
Now I picture charts from infection stations
I used to say it's just how they show love
On the carpet
In the street
But you lick your own ass in the daylight
Then come hunting down my teeth
[Bridge]
Is this growth or just paranoia
Did the internet ruin me
With diagrams and Latin names
For things that ride along on affection
Or did I just start watching closely
Not the big brown eyes
But the whole… routine
The warm-up act before the romance scene
[Verse 3]
Now I angle my jaw
Offer you forehead
Temple
Hairline
Like some holy compromise
Between devotion and hygiene
Friends roll their eyes
Call me cold
Call me clinical
While your tongue does laps
Around places air itself shies from
I still love you
Like family
Like habit
Like gravity
But I carry hand wipes
Like tiny white flags in my pocket
[Chorus]
I used to let you kiss my face
Full on the mouth
No hesitation
Thought it was trust
Thought it was fate
Now I flinch at your love like it’s radiation
I still say it’s just how you show love
And I mean it
Mostly
Kind of
Sort of
But you lick your own ass in the daylight
So this kiss stops at my jawline
My friend
[Outro]
Curl up by my feet
Guard my sleep from the hallway shadows
I’ll scratch your ears till morning
We’ll keep the distance small
But real
Love can change shape
From forehead to mouth to memory
You stay the dog you’ve always been
I’ll be the weirdo who finally read the label on your tongue