Baba. Little Man.
My fluffy beating heart.
So gentle and warm.
Here’s to the day we met and you found a home at my feet, and slept
As I stood, completely overwhelmed.
Cushioning you like a delicate flower in an autumnal wind.
And here’s to the day you first gave me your paw, holding it out like a promise
A vow. To have and to hold.
And here’s to the days we’d lay side by side.
Your head on my chest.
Watching you rise and fall. Little life buoy, bobbing in the sea.
A sanctuary. To keep me afloat.
And here’s to the days you’d gift me a toy.
A symbol of devotion.
A boomerang. To throw and fetch and then never let go.
And here’s to the day I realised the softest souls are the biggest.
And that love is a pool of drool on my knees, or a bunch of fur on my jeans.
It’s a wag of a tail.
Or a lapping tongue to my face like a child licking ice cream.
I’m sorry I left you.
And I’m sorry I didn’t come back to you every day.
And I’m sorry that when you got tired the best thing I could ever do for you was to let you go.
And spend the rest of my life wishing you’d come back.