James Mendur, Saying Goodbye to My Dog

You came to heel one last time, with fading grace, 

stumbled a little, came to stand in your place

by my side ‘til I crouched so you could lick my face.

No one else saw me with such clear, crystalline gaze

until time, a pirate, plundered your too short days

and took you, the totem of all my praise.

Good boy. You led me out of my own depths to ascend

every hill, and we walked to see just beyond the next bend.

We scanned the horizon trying to chase the rainbow’s end.

For a while I dreamed that the two of us might prevail

and cheat the timing of our fates, and stay hale

and thrive until we both would one day fail.

Now I daub my eyes with tears and the agony I feel,

the echoing in my heart, is all too real.

A surge of sadness. I will never truly heal.

The cadence of my life, disrupted, now you’re gone.

Your breath’s last rasp seemed to chase away the dawn

but still your love does filter pain, so I can carry on.

Destiny was a fool to design one such as you,

such a short-lived revelation to me and to all who

would chance to see all the things that you do.

That you did.  A friend to the last, you came at my behest,

a companion ready to venture with me on any quest,

my life fulfilled by, of all Man’s friends, the best.

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James Mendur has visited and lived in a number of strange and exotic places, including Ireland, China, New England, and Indiana, before moving to Texas. He works for a large corporation, which doesn’t give him a lot of time for writing but he writes a lot of flash fiction and a bit of poetry when he can. His website is seekingthewayout.wordpress.com and he can be found on Twitter as @JamesMendur. He currently lives in Denton County and is preparing to get a new puppy. Yeah, even after writing that poem. It’s worth it.