I give back to you my collar, leash, bowl and
Remaining biscuits
(Those you can give to the cat—)
And oh, my red knit sweater
And all my favorite balls
(She might like them too…)
All that I have had and
All that I have been
I give back to you—
So much love we shared—
It makes me cry—
For all we’ll be missing now—
And I want you to know—
I did my best
Day in and day out—
To bark away the strangers
Near and ‘round our house, and
I did my bit of tail wagging
and wiggling too—
Welcoming you home
each day
when you walked
through the door.
But most of all
I’d have to say—I loved
Our evenings best:
The nightly snuggles on the bed
You, with pillows piled up around us
And me, curled up beneath your arm
Staying up late watching
Your silly shows and all
Those dogs on the flat screen
With their odor-less ways…
How they confounded me.
And oh, the walks we took!
The long walks on autumn trails—
And oh, the picnics we had!
Those times on the beach
Where we swam
Holding paws and hands together
Then dog-paddling back
to the warm beach
I’d roll myself dry in the sand
and shake—
You’d laugh and hand me a piece of pizza—
Those were the days!
Even the cold-water shower
On coming home wasn’t bad—
Followed by my favorite treat—those bones!
Oh, those bones!
(The cat doesn’t understand them. Thank God.)
But—
I’ll wait for you, my loved one
Till you come over to this side too
and we’ll romp again
On different shores
Blessed by Loves Abiding Power,
We’ll speak again
In our poetic utterances:
You, in your high-pitched voice—
And me, in the language of love:
Speaking wordlessly
Through my large black eyes
And unflinching stares—
My tongue darting out to kiss
Your tear-streamed cheek—
Ah…
We have no words
To call this—to name,
Such exquisite love
as ours.
