Often I retreat
	into 
the Safe Blanket of 
	my Dogs

as I watch them
play to the ends of Abandon
	once they pretend
	that I'm no longer Looking.


What can we learn from
these canine pranksters
	who chase Shadows unseen
	into distant oblivions
even when the silhouettes
end up being their own?

Who but a Dog
finds unfathomable fascination
	in the suddenness and wonder
	of a Windswept Leaf?

or could live quietly and forever content
	bathed in the music of your familiar Voice?

In your Heart, he resides there
when the nightmares get bad or
the evenings too Cold.

On your worst day

and up until your Last Day,
loyalty without End,
he was your Best Friend

And it was he who
mourned longer than did the rest
of the World

long enough to continue following you

because now he believes you live inside
each Windswept Leaf.

Border created by S.Stumpf ©)