Shadow
walking,
crushing juniper berries
at dusk
the dog shadows me
in his absence
* * *
“Shadow” first appeared in April, 2015. It could be considered a companion piece to “Mother’s Day,” which is included in the July 2016 edition of The Lake.
O at the Edges
Musings on poetry, language, perception, numbers, food, and anything else that slips through the cracks.
O at the Edges 
Very good. I enjoyed the resd
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Thank you very much.
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Compelling spare verse – can feel the absence of the dog.
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Thanks, Jazz. I’ve learned that absences, too, have presence.
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I confess, I read this with a bottle of Gin on the other end of the table, and added a little meaning on my side.
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Consider what might have happened had you moved the bottle closer!
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A few hours and we will be one
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A companion piece, perhaps, but it stands alone beautifully, Bob.
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Thanks, Cate. I never know what’s going to pop out when I start writing.
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Powerful and lovely. I understood it as a meditation on loss.
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Thank you.
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Melancholy yet reassuring and of course. beautiful.
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Thanks, Angela. Melancholy, acceptance, loss.
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Definitely written by a man who has loved a dog and been loved by that dog. Did you not write a post while back about your four-legged friend; I remember that being a heartfelt testament as well.
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Oh, yes. I posted “Jackboy’s Pride” shortly after he died, as well as “Jackboy’s Lament.” He was my boon companion, as they say, and I can only hope to live up to his standards.
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A true friend. And I remember those posts.
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I finally had time to sit down and read, and think about, Shadow, as well as Mother’s Day and Every Wind (in The Lake — Congratulations!). The grief poems hit pretty close to home. It’s been two years since our cat, Sammy, died at age 18. My kids hadn’t known life without him until he was gone. We still feel the lack, and probably always will.
For some reason, though, I totally fixated on the line in Every Wind, “I want” — just a pronoun and a verb standing alone like that… Can you even do that? What would the Iowa Writers Workshop have to say about that?! It is so subtle, and so achingly pure. I think everything that poetry IS, in essence, is our attempt to complete that line.
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What may not work in Iowa seems okay in my backyard shack. 🙂 Those two words demanded space – they were the backbone of the piece.
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Hello! Hope u r doing gud.. disturbed u to say just visit my blog once may be u like to follow it😊 i ‘ll be very thankfull
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If you provide your url in the Gravatar profile, people will be better able to find your blog.
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Four legged creature more faithful than two legged
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That seems to be the case quite often.
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The last two lines, added the element of mystery. That was the best part for me. I really liked it.
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Thank you very much. So pleased you like it.
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This is fascinating. The way you weave words in a very simple, exact and that’s it! Walaahhh! A brilliant poem came out of it. Just so!
ʕ♡˙ᴥ˙♡ʔ
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Thank you, Sherrie. It took me a very long time to realize that simple can be quite complex. 🙂
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I couldn’t agree more, Robert.
The simplest one are the most complex one to write.
But it is one of the most beautiful one too.
(❁´◡`❁)
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Melancholy and beautiful. Love it!
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Thanks very much.
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I just read your poem Mother’s Day… it is simply, profoundly, beautiful! ❤ These lines surely seem to fit with the original poem.
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Thanks, M. I’m so pleased you found the time to read “Mother’s Day,” and that you recognized the fit.
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So compact. So touching. I can smell the juniper.
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Thank you, Darryl. I do love the scent of juniper.
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Nice!
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Thanks very much.
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