Dear Creature

 

Nocturnal Visitations
by Forest Woodward

When the veil grows thin
between this world and the next,
I watch for you,
and listen for your howl.

You followed the path
where the Disappeared go,
and I could not follow.

The morning after you died,
just as they were
feeding you into the flames,
I felt your snout
on the edge of my bed.
You whuffed to wake me,
as you had every morning
of our life together.

And then you were gone,
into the ether,
to find your own way
along forest trails
in the sky.

You always went before me
on the path.
Wait for me.
I am not far
behind you.

for Desperate Poets where we are supposed to be Creature Seeking. But there has always only been one special creature for me, and I miss him still.