little poem for my Jasper (who's fine, don't worry!)

How to walk these woods

Without you, dog,

Companion of these thirteen years,

Without the sound

Of your breath

Somewhere nearby,

The sound of you chasing

squirrel or deer, no care for stealth.

How indeed with only 2 eyes

To observe the daily changes

Without your great snout

To guide us both,

Carry all 6 feet to scat or carcass

Or a leaf whose meaning remains veiled.

These woods are inseparable from

The sight of you,

Dappled sunlight on your brindle coat,

Big mouth smiling,

Tongue to one side,

Dripping.

You travel so much more slowly now,

The same trails more delicately trotted,

Tired older hips navigating, cautious.

Still: bursts of puppy running,

sprints after turkeys, but

bunny days are over.

Your rest at home is deeper.

You snore.

There will be a time when the sleep

Will be longest.  That time

Is coming.

Right now

the sound of your paws on the dirt,

the jangle of your tag as it swings

Its rhythm, are enough,

Are everything. 

Why walk with ghosts

When I have you still beside me,

Each moment more precious

Than the last. 

Companion of

Thirteen years: I’m still learning

To be in the woods truly

like you, with you,

not chasing thoughts like rabbits

but letting them go their way,

filling my eyes and ears with

all of your beauty,

wagging like you

with my whole self.