Thursday, May 24, 2018

When You Love a Wild Thing III



When you love a wild thing,
you can never  again
return
to being tame.
He'll take you farther
than you'd ever go alone,
after which you'll never
be the same.

He was a wild thing,
and he shared
my wild and wilderness-y 
heart.
We gamboled endless 
sandy beaches,
never apart
through the happiest
and wildest
of our years,
and, when we had to leave,
we mourned together
our lost home
with inner tears,
the way all the wild 
and displaced creatures 
grieve.

He was a wild one,
and in all my life,
he was my dearest friend.
He was himself,
black wolf who loved me,
to the end.
He made me laugh
as untamed wild things
always will,
living all his life
with a spirit
too big
to kill.

He loved me more
than anyone I ever knew,
so it was harder than I dreamed
when our years together
were through.
And, when he went away,
though he tried so hard to stay,
most of my heart
went with him,
for pain is the price
love pays.

Forever now, I'll listen
for his song.
I will miss him
every day
all my life long.
From the moment
his heart stopped beating,
from the hour
we had to part,
I've been
a weary wolf woman
with wolf howls
in my heart.


for my prompt at Real Toads: Must Love Dogs. I have written a book full of poems about this wonderful wolf-dog. He shared my happiest years, and seven years after his death, I still miss him every day. The phrase "a spirit too big to kill" comes from my friend Annell, who wrote it soon after he died. I am so grateful for our fourteen years together.

I am sharing this in the Poetry Pantry with the good folks at Poets United this weekend.



31 comments:

  1. A touching tribute, Sherry. Thanks for the prompt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deep. Touching. Agreed. <3 ALOHA

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonderful, Sherry! I love reading your poems about your dog. What a handsome boy. I love 'He made me laugh / as untamed wild things'and 'wolf howls /in my heart'.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pain is the price the heart pays, but I wouldn't trade a moment with my furry companions either.

    ReplyDelete
  5. wonderful post Sherry... you have memories that cannot be replaced

    ReplyDelete
  6. Aw Sherry, you made me cry. What a beautiful boy he is, with his broad chest, triangle ears and funny tail. But the feature I like best about him is his eyes...he knows he's loved and it fills him to the brim.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love your poems about Pup. They always make me cry though.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just beautiful, Sherry. That unconditional love. It’s like no other.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such a fine friend for you he was, Sherry. Pup will always be with you in spirit, he won't ever leave. This is a very nice tribute you've left here in the ether. Thank you for sharing him once again.
    ..

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh the wolf howls in your heart... somehow we will always have a favorite... there will always be a void in our heart.

    ReplyDelete
  11. And, when he went away,
    though he tried so hard to stay,
    most of my heart
    went with him..

    I wish I could say I had not lived through this particular pain, but I have.. time does not heal it. Your Pup was a very beautiful soul.

    ReplyDelete
  12. WOW a beautiful tribute Sherry

    Much♥️love

    ReplyDelete
  13. So beautiful Sherry, you have made me cry, as you always do when you write about Pup. It raises my heart to think of him, how he enriched your life, and then you enriched mine. RIP Pup

    ReplyDelete
  14. My eyes are filled with this wild, beautiful friend. I hear those howls.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Made me cry! So beautiful a tribute to your pooch. This took my breath away:
    for pain is the price
    love pays.
    Sigh!.......

    ReplyDelete
  16. from the hour we had to part,
    I've been a weary wolf woman

    The memories linger on especially when there are feelings for them when alive!

    Hank

    ReplyDelete
  17. A wonderful tribute to a wonderful being.

    ReplyDelete
  18. A heartwarming tribute to a glorious love between person and dog!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Now this really is a tearjerker Sherry remembering the dogs that have died in my arms. How beautifully you describe the love of your canine friends.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is such a beautiful tribute, Sherry!💞

    ReplyDelete
  21. How wonderful it is when the spirit of one dear to us, whether animal or human, lives on within our hearts.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Those with big spirits are forever with us....your deep abiding love and friendship brings tears to my eyes every time I read it in your poems....we are both thinking of wildness today! Big hugs to you....

    ReplyDelete
  23. A beautiful tribute to your dear Pup.

    ReplyDelete
  24. When we love the wild, the wild loves us back... and nothing loves as deeply as a wild thing.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is heartbreaking but beautiful. I bet you still feel his wild spirit protecting and keeping you company.

    ReplyDelete
  26. What a tribute! OwoOOOOOOO! Golly. He who loved you the most and who shared his wildness, you carry still. In that special place he lives, though I am sure it is not enough.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Aroooooo. Pup was such a fine handsome lad. I imagine he is waiting for you, just beyond the edge of the forest.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Beautiful and moving ... tenderly rendered - with a mesmerizing cadence and so much love. And the close ~ sigh ~ utterly enchanting, Sherry.

    ReplyDelete
  29. a very moving tribute, Sherry.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for visiting. I appreciate it and will return your visit soon.