Friday, November 24, 2017

Five Poetic Breaths (4/5)

A LIFE

I never really knew any one like I once knew a canine
I anticipated her needs
She needed
     food
          pets
               rest
          love
     encouragement
          praise
               correction
     more pets
She needed

in such a full and unabashed way all the things
that every human being needs

When it was her time to die
she walked, better, stumbled in her geriatric and tumor-laden condition,
straight
toward it with no fear

She embodied what we hope for humans
a great life
an even better death
They are not so different
One does not even really exist

No comments: