What about us..
What about us, the dogs of life..
The children that need to be loved..
The children forgotten....
The floatsams..

How does one lose a creature gracefully…?

Is it possible to just be okay with a quick goodbye under the hum of those awful fluorescent lights? Would it have been easier, kinder, softer, if the lights were lamps scattered about the space, yellow and murmuring? When does the gut-wrneching tightening stop? Will I ever let the sadness of it leave my chest?

Sitting in this complacent grief even months after it all is kind

I know that the grief will let me cry and I know that when I do, it doesn’t judge me for my “I wish things could go back to normal.” Because regardless of how familiar the New Ways become, it still isn’t the same. I am bookended by these two creatures that have and continue to adore the Earth I walk on. But the Old Ways stick with us for longer than we’d maybe like.

But in filling that little empty nook, the small nest where a dog named Nelson used to lie, I’ve forced myself to grow, to become changed.

My adult life started when I got Nelson, and it started again when I had to let him slip through my trembling fingers. And it continues on with this new creature named Franklin, who sits just to the left of that Nelson shaped divot.

Loving things that leave you utterly shattered is what makes us so mendable, forgetful, endlessly desperate for devotion…

The whole scene will replay in 10 years time, and I will be even more ruined then.

I am from water, from fire,
      from earth and air,
            the spirit to complete.
I am from the busy movement of city
      from the busstling to and fro.
I am from historic land,
      from where many jumped to find gold,
            to find a better life.
I am from the prison of Him,
      from where the truama begins,
            perfect from all around.
I am from nights of games,
      from spondgebob monoply
            from Life.
I am from the seeds of the earth,
      from where the magick starts.
I am from Odin, from Apollo,
      the strong Yggdrasil to protect.
I am from the occult of practice,
      from the forests and seas.
I am from long walks with Odin,
      from his warm embrace,
            from playing fetch.
I am from the theatre,
      from Carlos, from tech.
I am from here.

two barks don't make a bite
but
it takes two dogs
to make a dogfight

I saw a lady
Hanging up a sign,
I thought maybe for a yard sale
Until I heard her whine,
She said her poodle got out
And she’s on the run,
Yes, her poodle got away
Probably having fun.

A photograph showed
On the front of that poster,
She said if you find my poodle
I will give you a toaster,
And I’ll cook you a meal
With seventeen courses,
Because my poodle escaped
Along with all of the horses.

She said the poodle got out
At half past eight,
When someone at home
Left open the gate,
I asked, what is the name
Of your runaway poodle?
She said my sweet puppy
Is called Snicker-Doodle,

I thought…………
Poodle has been gone about two hours,
Maybe she's down at the bar
Having whiskey-sours,
Celebrating herself
For finally getting away,
After being in the yard
For a year and a day.

Poodle got out
Because she wanted to play,
Without a chain around her neck
(That's the human way),
To manage one’s pet
When you live in the city,
Poodle got out
To get ***** and gritty.

Poodle Got Out signs
Everywhere I look,
Maybe that’s the advice
In the Lost Dog book,
Engage the neighborhood
With the core of your drama,
Snicker-Doodle on the run
If you see her; call Momma.

If otherwise we were, we might,
if otherwise we were, we might

answer boldly all the common conundrums
whying one way and ifing another,
howing all things,

indoing each as must be done, otherwise,
undoing first cause ifing any reason
authorizes our use of may, as well
we may, if we can make believe.

there is an owl
out there
   somewhere
in the darkness
kept secret
by whispering trees
shrouded
in shadow
by leaf
and cloud
it seems
to have a question
for any
who will listen
politely
but persistently
it inquires
pausing briefly
awaiting
an answer
before asking
again
and again;
whether intended
or not
this interrogation
has infuriated
the old boy
and seemingly
every other canine
in the vicinity

Five hundred nights we shared this room
You still crack the blinds to watch the moon

No dogs allowed has been long overruled
You always felt that was just a bit cruel

Despite the hair, dirt, and drool
You welcome the new fur family rule

No more fussing with my sloppy side
Now you tidy the sheets in half the time

The center of the mattress is just as fine
Though you still refuse to cross that line

You still sleep on your side of the bed
Yet, Five hundred nights since I've been dead

i saw us

4 cars and a lake house, making friends all over this town, nothing holding us back

3 dogs and a sunset, laughing until there’s no air left, netflix binges on our couch

2 matching starbs tumblers, getting mexican food when our stomachs rumble, stargazing pretty far our

1 walk down the aisle, listening to morgan all the while, smiles on the way out

but instead it’s time to let you go

but i hope you know i’ll always love you so