Lampshade of Shame by Mark Tulin/ Daily Drunk Magazine

He wears a cone, the color of daybreak, around his head like a lampshade…
— Read on dailydrunkmag.com/2020/12/24/lampshade-of-shame/

Lampshade of Shame by Mark Tulin

He wears a cone,

the color of daybreak 

around his head

like a lampshade

as if he were connected

to an electrical outlet

with an on and off switch


It is the cone of shame,

shouting from a megaphone,

screaming of injustice

for a crime, he’s never committed,

yet guilty as sin


He wears the damn thing

reluctantly, way too

regularly,

out of obligation

to his loving master,

with his doggie pride tumbling

as low as a cross-eyed Tabby


Once a happy pooch,

now a lampshade

colors his mood,

defines his bark,

his four-legged gait—

a social reject,

labeled, libeled, 

and terribly mistaken.