Minas Gerais, Brazil

Somehow the dog had died, laid out

on its side, casually, in the gutter

of a dusty street in Mariana.

It might have starved to death, bloated

about the stomach as it was,

but judging from the boys and men

crowded with sticks and bicycles

around the curiosity, this dog

had met its death by some surprise,

hit by a car, likely, that sped away.

They all just stood there, waiting

for the master to arrive and see

his dirt-colored dog in the dirt,

its mouth open ridiculously.