I am not so kind

I have said men are cruelest when you’re young
and they don’t destroy you after messing up your mold
but kiln-fire you into a life patterned with either pathetic mimicry
or obsessive rejection of their awful fingerprints.

Yes ma’am, the puppy squealed when you kicked it
and now you will never forgive yourself for it
because you cannot forgive the cruelest man
who made you squeal, which is quite rational indeed.

And one supposes, like the man, you also left the dog alive
to wonder if it would be kicked again
and to feel confused when that impact was missing.