your eyes of burnt sienna
always kind but never meek
your dear and caring nature
ever magical and sweet
your gentle playful spirit
that i hold in memory
this and so much more i keep
deep and tenderly
(for dora)
14 Sunday Jan 2024
17 Thursday Aug 2023
Tags
I think of this sometimes, I’m not sure why: a news item about a lost dog and a young man who lived at the turn of the twentieth century. I saw a brief newspaper story about them while scrolling through an old newspaper reel looking for something else entirely. Why my eyes fell on this irrelevant story, irrelevant to my purpose at the time, I don’t know. But I stopped to read it and the story has stayed with me to this day. It’s a sad story. I will state that clearly here for those who probably know I tend to write about sad, depressing things, but so be it. You can stop reading at this point, if you wish. But for me the story has such resonance and meaning and poignancy beyond its simple narrative. The boy was 18. He had lost his dog. He was new in town. Had probably come to L.A. to start his life. Nothing was said about where he came from. It was an acquaintance who related the story. The person said, the boy looked all over town for his dog. It was his best friend. When he couldn’t find the dog, he committed suicide. So the report was about the boy’s suicide and the supposed reason behind it. As I said, the story was very brief. Just the facts, no mention of other problems that may have been factors. What stood out for me were the basic elements: the lost dog, someone saying “it was his best friend,” and the frantic searching that ended in the boy’s suicide. It hit me hard, and it still does to this day. For only a few years later, I lost both of my dogs, one after the other, through unfortunate circumstances (a botched fatal dental cleaning and the subsequent decline in her little pup’s health), and my memory reached back to this story, to the feeling that dogs can literally be your best friend, that a suicide can result from their loss. I’m not being dramatic here, and I’m well aware that such a confession may be pathetic to some. But in all honesty, I understood this boy. And I think a few others will as well. That is not to say that I am thinking of suicide. Don’t get me wrong. What I mean to say is that a dog and any companion animal can be so linked to a person’s sense of self and well-being that the loss can be that overwhelming. In other words, an animal-human bond can be as deep as any purely human bond. Scoff, if you will, those who think this is pathetic (read here a close relative of mine). But as I said, I believe some will understand.
14 Monday Aug 2023
17 Sunday Jul 2022
Tags
dog, dogs, happy birthday, poem, poems, poetry, terriermix
have you ever had a ninja dog
a dog the color of snow or moonlit sand
who appears and disappears by magic
who’s under the bed one moment
to materialize on the sundeck the next
who defies both space and time
to show up wherever she pleases
that’s the essence of skye
a quintessential ninja dog
(happy birthday, skye)
31 Tuesday May 2022
Tags
creative writing, dogs, kiss, memory, photography, poem, poems, poetry
she came for a kiss
that’s the first thing that comes to mind
when i look at this photo from long ago
i was trying to create
a formal portrait of her mother
when suddenly there came
little dora asking for a kiss
which her mother bestowed with
a certain forgetfulness of my presence
for such kisses were usually secretive
i would chance to see them only
when looking on from another room
the second thing that comes to mind
when i look at this photo taken long ago
is how fortunate i am to have captured
this everlasting moment of forgetfulness
23 Saturday Apr 2022
Tags
creative writng, dog, dogs, mixed breeds, mutt, mutts, photos, poem, poems, poetry, terrier, terriermix, terriers
skye
she’s a little woolly mammoth of a dog
and i couldn’t ask for a better one
(dog that is not woolly mammoth)
the terrier in her predominates
though the chihuahua and schnauzer
are there in her soulful eyes
and stiff topcoat respectively
with her spindly legs and floppy feet
she somehow goes from zero to 100
in seconds with really no warning at all
how she achieves such a lightning speed
only the terrier can tell
21 Thursday Apr 2022
a barking dog woke her
out of a deep sleep
and the beginning of a dream
what was this dream about
she wondered
as she swept away
the cobwebs of dreaming
to find only a glimmer of memory
she was in college again
and about to enroll in a course
called deep reality 101
perhaps the dog
her dog
had yanked her out of the dream
for an esoteric reason
which a few explosive barks in her ear
could explain
but after she had fully awakened
she considered that he possibly had something
more mundane and pressing
in mind
28 Tuesday Dec 2021
Tags
bungee jumping, creative writing, dogs, happiness, memories, poem, poems, poetry, writing
a field of sunflowers at midday
that’s what you need
and a new dog that nestles up against you in a sudden show of trust
and a rain-soaked pavement glimmering beneath the moon
and a book you can’t finish because you don’t want it to end
and a solo swim in the adriatic sea
and a leap of faith from a new zealand bridge
and music that makes you dance in your living room
and someone you love who knows the fragility of memories unspoken
and …
18 Thursday Mar 2021
23 Saturday Jan 2021