Thursday, February 17, 2011

Yard Dog


You were a wild
wolf puppy,
gamboling along
the beach
in your early years,
free and joyous,
a wild creature
under the sun.

in your middle years,
away from
the wild places
we loved,
we daily sought
the river
and the tamer
forest trails,
your ears and nose
alert
for critters
in the bush.

Every afternoon,
your nose
would follow
the rich smells
of the forest floor,
and you would bathe
in river, creek or lake,
one with the wild
in shorter increments,
that allowed us
to survive
our incarceration.

In your elder years,
as your legs
and back gave out,
our walks
were fewer
and shorter
but you lived for
those times,
at lake and river,
times when
the old wild light
came back into
your eyes.

In your huge
wild yard,
you reigned
supreme.
You ruled
the street,
lying up
by the fence,
where you
could mark
all passings
of car, or dog,
or horse
with your
loud imperious
barking:
Who passes
through
my territory?

Your yard
has been
so empty
without you.
I look at it,
and am bereft.

But just lately,
Jasmine
has been
acting excited,
all along
the fence,
poking her nose
through the slats,
wagging her tail,
as she did
when you
touched noses
in the final days
before your death.

And I am
wondering:
are you back?
Did your spirit
come home
to the only home
you knew?

I had pictured you
running
free and joyous
once again
along the beach.
But your spirit
and mine
were so
strongly linked,
it makes sense
that you'd
come home
to be
with me,
in your yard,
where you
reigned supreme
and were
king of the street,
Spirit Dog,
forever
my defender,
Wolf Pup,
forever
in my heart.

6 comments:

  1. It makes perfect sense that his sweet soul would venture back to yours.

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  2. To read your words I descended again to partake of your sorrow. I got a glimpse of Billy Goat Gruff, but also thought... I know you gave him more years, because of your love and your care. Soon it will change, and you will be in gratitude for his" living," and that is all..... it was so for me, I have to give up the "but."....not now, too soon, it's not what I want....As I was raising my son, one day I came to class very upset, and my instructor said, "You have to allow him his own path." It was very meaningful for me, and I found it applies to death as well. Pup follows his own path, and it has nothing to do with you. Although I a sure he is in his yard, he is with you. He is everywhere. It is just a change, nothing stays the same, all things change. hugs and kisses

    I am thinking....little bits of our energy fall off, and are scattered around everywhere we have been. It's true of everything....that is why it is so important we are aware of the energy we are feeling. Is it our's?

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  3. Sad I Know how much you will be missing your dog. :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Home is where the heart is. This reminds me of that...

    xx

    ReplyDelete

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