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Monday, September 28, 2015

Your Dog and I



Your dog and I
We wander the house
Aimless
I take up a task for a moment
Then return to the couch

He turns in circles
And lays back down

These days are better
My mind will settle on a book
And your absence isn't a physical pain

But I remember those days
Curled up here on the couch
Only sleep would ease the ache
Of missing you

Those days and months
When even your imminent return
Failed to revive my soul

When missing you
ruled the day
even when you were here

It got easier
You said it would

But you and I apart
Will never be right

Your dog and I
We will always be here
Slightly less ourselves
When you are gone

Unsure how to compose our bodies
Without you to lean against
Without your foot to step on

So, we circle and sit
We look for distraction
We listen
For the sound of you
Our man, at the door




Sunday, June 14, 2015

Fragile, Winged Prayers


Away you go into the wide, wide world
into the busy-ness and the crowds,
fast moving machines and security screens
With your uniform on, passing through
going places, meeting people, seeing things

And there is energy everywhere.  You only see the good, because you have that spirit of goodness about you. But I know that there is bad out there too

I try to believe that you are safe because it helps me stay sane

But underneath your epaulets and behind your zipper-tie,
hidden beneath the shield of professional competency
I know you are still that vulnerable boy

Whom I love
and long to protect

I can do nothing from here except pray you safely onto the ground, safely back home to me
So I send out my prayers like a flock of migrating butterflies
I beg them to surround you
shield you as your uniform cannot
from the broken planes and all that is bad in the world
from the places of the lost and stolen
from anyone or anything that would bring harm to you.
When you feel that soft brush of butterfly wings against your cheek,
but find that there is nothing there,
know that you are surrounded by my fragile, winged, prayers
by my love, guiding you safely home.