Saturday, June 18, 2016

Rosie Girl

I wrote this poem to my dog Rosie soon after she died. That was well more than ten years ago and I came across it again tonight. I'm still asking the same questions….

love
kj

What’s To Know
Rosie girl, tell me about heaven.
I expect you to greet me, you know,
Your soft stub of a tail wagging so effortlessly
that I will see you even in the back row,
and even in the faraway barley fields,
Your enthusiasm rocked by the flow
of something never lost,
Something never handed over.

Tell me what I should know about living
So I can get it right.
Tell me if abundance is real,
and if it is,
Tell me I can turn in my leash for a dance card
and stroll and roll through the back woods
knowing that every sacred scent is in place.

Tell me, Rosie, that it is enough to try.
Enough to care, enough to prepare,
Enough to get it right simply because
it’s all right.
I’m unable to know these things myself
but I trust you, Rosie. I know you know
what matters most
and what matters not at all.

Can you tell me about hearts?
Mine is pretty deep these days,
but still I wonder how far hearts can stretch
especially in the moments when they work overtime.
I wonder if perhaps a heart does not break
But maybe snaps instead,
a little fragment breaking off so it can rest somewhere in isolation
where certain memories and longings cannot be harmed.

Sometimes I wonder if I am up to the task
of letting every broken fragment finds its resting place--
Even if it means I can’t be whole.

Tell me Rosie, do I have to be whole,
if given the chance for love to stretch me
so far beyond my safe walls
that I forget I am confused and instead
feel only gratitude and greatness?

Rosie girl, I will spend my days
asking questions like this
and letting the answers and clues
Guide me home.
And Rosie girl, I will run straight to you
even before your ears shoot up
For our hearts’ reunion of a lifetime.

17 comments:

  1. I adore this poem, and I believe they wait to welcome us, yes I do.
    Just imagine!
    XO Babs

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    1. I believe this in part, babs, because I heard an NPR program about a study of people who had been resuscitated during surgery. they commonly spoke about the bright light and a tunnel, and those who had been "out" the longest said they could see their animals at the end of the tunnel, waiting…..
      love
      kj

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  2. What a wonderful poem. Love it.

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    1. thank you, kay. always a compliment coming from you. xo
      love
      kj

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  3. To comment on the poem or the questions? I'll shoot for the questions in one answer. Whole or fragmented, makes little difference simply because you are what you are regardless of how you came to be that person.

    Find some peace and give some love today and let the rest go to clover fields to be pollinated by the bees.

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  4. Tears.....it's beautiful.

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    1. actually mark, i always like your take on the poem itself, structure etc. your wisdom sounds like popeye's :^) ha!
      love
      kj

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  5. I do believe that when we die our energy returns to the stream of love that flows through the universe. And yes, our love connects and reconnects with all those we have loved and we become perfect love.

    Well, here's hoping, anyway : )

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    1. hello ms. 8, i believe this too. xo
      love
      kj

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  6. Rosie was an extraordinary dog...beautiful and sweet. I was honoured to have met her and taken her for a walk. She lives within your heart for eternity. ♥

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  7. Rosie was an extraordinary dog...beautiful and sweet. I was honoured to have met her and taken her for a walk. She lives within your heart for eternity. ♥

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    1. Hi robin, it was stella you met. rosie came before stella and we lost her at 13 due to cancer. both were wonderful dogs for sure.
      love
      kj

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  8. beautiful poem and thoughtful thoughts. How wonderful to love and be loved in this way

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  9. hi suki, how true.
    love
    kj

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  10. so lovely karen :} a heart's reunion, i want that too! <3 biggest hug to you!

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  11. Val. I miss you deeply. I've been a bit of a mess. When I'm up for air you'll hear my voice
    Love always
    kj

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  12. Either Rosie was a dog or a very unusual person, and I prefer to think the latter, which is how I think of dogs and cats--not as human persons but as another--and in many ways better--kind of person.

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