This poem was published in The Avenue Journal, Issue X: Dogs
The Dog
by Suzannah Kolbeck
His large heart roars its murmur, grey muzzle
Marking the decline, bony spine
Tracking hesitant paws
As they creep his worn body to bed
To turn around, scrape
The soft fabric, Fold underneath a body Marked by years of retrieved balls, Tears cried into fur, Good boy dogbody thumps, Baths to get the greasy stink of Redbone hound out of fur.
Rocky sorrow lines the slow streambed of his flowing out of this life and into the next, Where I hope his dead master will greet him, along with his beloved dog friends. Where it’s always cheesetime and toenails never need cutting.
This imprinted loss, just a dog Carrying the weight of those who have gone before, No less etched in our lives than the cut of water into rock, slow and persistent in the knowledge of its course.
Suzannah Kolbeck is the author of three books; her poetry has been published in Plainsongs, 50Haikus, Pomme Journal, and elsewhere. She splits her time between Baltimore City and a tiny cabin she is building in the woods, one room at a time.
You can purchase The Avenue Journal Issue X: Dogs in paperback at Bookshop.org, or, if you prefer it in digital format, you can download the ebook in .epub format for pay-what-you-can (suggested donation $9) at ko-fi.