Sycophancy

The dog who gets beat:
Unworthy, tender, and pitiful.
Waiting for that one soft hand,
For the sweet talk, for a name.
Always there to fetch and fall
With pleading, searching eyes.
Begging for crumbs and
Promising with a cower that
The foul the dog will rectify
If only the blows will halt.
No clinking chains needed for
There are choking binds unseen