Good Bye

If you fight hard and long, with all your heart,
And give your best and do your part -
When joy is small and the sigh is moan,
I will hold you close and send you home.
You live forever here, within my soul,
In touch and breath and wind,
In memories both grand and droll
My truest, sweetest, bravest friend.
My nightly walks will ne'er be dark
And day shine , squirrels play in the park,
Will bring both tear and smile to face
For in my heart, you hold eternal pace.
You stay with me, though flesh is gone:
A bark heard distant in the air,
A gentle nudge, a fleeting song
Keeps me aware we were a pair
Of friends, true friends, with love to keep
Away the phantoms in my sleep.
And someday, not today, not soon
You'll bound again into the room
In flesh that's new and young and firm,
All puppy wriggle and boundless joy
Not quite you but your gift, warm
A new entrancing doggy boy.
Fly fast, my precious friend, fly free
>From pain and sorrow, but not from me.
I'll have you always, bright and strong
For memories last lifetimes long.
PaLo, 2001