The Return
I opened the car door
and he ran across the parking lot
and jumped into the back seat.
“Where have you been?” I asked.
He thumped his great tail, sniffed,
and licked the hand I placed on his shadowy head.
As we drove back home, he thrust his head
between the seats and placed his paw upon my shoulder.
Then he licked my ear and the side of my face.
I pulled into the garage and let him out of the car.
He raced to the end of the drive, surveyed the neighborhood,
and drilled an invisible pee into the snow.
I whistled, and he ran back to the door,
whimpering and scratching, impatient.
I held the door open and he bounded in.
“You’re back home now,” I told him.
He ran to the cat’s bowl and lapped some water,
scoffed her kibble, and lay down in his usual place.
At night, he lies beside me in bed,
a fluffy spoon carved into my body’s curve.
In the morning he walks through the kitchen
and doesn’t make a sound.
The cat senses he’s there and bristles and hisses
at rainbow motes dancing in the sun.
He’s sitting beside me now,
head on my knee, as I type these words,
one-handed, because I’m scratching him
in his favorite spot behind the ear.
This is wonderful, Roger, and wonderfully sad as the truth is revealed in the last words.
Congratulations, and condolences.
-j
http://www.thestoneist.com ________________________________
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Glad you like it, Jan. He was a great friend, that old 110lb dog of mine. I still miss him. My last dog: I’m glad I didn’t call him Duchess (joke!).
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What a beautiful tribute to the memory of a pet. Real love never dies…
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Thanks, Tanya. “Though lovers be lost, love shall not, and death shall have no dominion.”
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One of my favorite quotes of all time.
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Did I send you a copy of my poetry book Though Lovers Be Lost?
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No, but I will order it so that I can do the review on Amazon. (It’s there, right?)
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Indeed it is! Not the best cover … it was early in my CreateSpace career! But the words are good.
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It is on my purchase list!
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That’s great, Tanya. Thank you so much.
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I just picked it up as well as “Menicus”…(Alexandra Tims’ book…how she is listed on Amazon)
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