I was made a dog

person by my first chocolate lab,

green eyes, anxious

insistent tail, hot breath

panting, toss after

slobbery toss, she made me hers,

she was mine.

 

My first true love,

never critical or unkind, she

waited and wagged and shed

all of her energy into

my poor unsuspecting life,

my heart

broken the day

she couldn’t get up

and I put her down

on an old quilt, holding her face

to mine until I was sure

she was gone.

 

But sometimes,

often,

she comes swimming

back to me in midnight waters

full of joy and light, panting,

her pink tongue full

of life and her eyes still

glittering green and gold.

 

DRH for The Poplar Grove Muse