Mother’s Day
The dog is my shadow and I fear his loss. My loss.
I cook for him daily, in hope of retaining him.
Each regret is a thread woven around the oak’s branches.
Each day lived is one less to live.
Soon the rabbits will be safe, and the squirrels.
As if they were not. One morning
I’ll greet an empty space and walk alone,
toss the ball into the yard, where it will remain.
It is Mother’s Day.
Why did I not weep at my mother’s grave?
I unravel the threads and place them around the dog.
The wind carries them aloft.
“Mother’s Day” first appeared in The Lake in July 2016.
O at the Edges 
It is sad to lose a pet. We share a love with them that is unencumbered by other baggage.
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My mother’s death will be with me forever, but so, too, the dogs’.
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It is not like you had an ‘ordinary’ mother either, considering her life story. Her background and circumstances would make a great novel, if you ever decided to write such a work.
So Happy Mother’s Day. If there is a TenGoku…zettaii ni Okaji Sensei no O-kāsan wa tengoku ni sunde iru!
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I think the long form is not for me, and thus far my attempts to relate her story have not worked out. But one of these days!
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Yes, so, too, for me my father’s death and the pets we’ve lost.
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They all have their places.
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I have a dog and believe me i go through the same sense of fear and anxiety pertaining to the separation from her. Lovely emotions…
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And the anxiety grows the closer you get to having to make that decision…
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We take in a pet, with the guarantee of a loss in the future, knowing the good will outweigh that loss. Even so, the loss can seem so tragic when the window of good is so relatively short.
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We take the good for granted, as we so often do our mothers. Sigh.
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Touching and beautifully written. I still weep for my childhood dog (many decades ago) and all the cats who have come and gone from me throughout my life. You have my sincere empathy and condolences.
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Thank you, Betty. I wrote the first draft of this on Mother’s Day two years ago, a few months before Jackboy the cattledog drew his last breath, and some nine years after my mother died. Both losses still sting.
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Robert, I know that sting. My own mom passed away a year ago. Mother’s Day will always be tinged with sadness. And I’ll never forget the pain of having to make that decision for our pets. And yet I’m so glad we had the experience of loving them. Wishing you peace and joy in the memories.
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Thank you, Betty. There is indeed much peace and joy in the memories.
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I can understand the loss, as I’ve lost pets as well that still tug at my heart strings. ❤ this post! Very beautiful.
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Thank you very much!
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Very beautiful lines Robert ❤
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Thank you, Anita. Much appreciated.
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💕
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Beautiful and thoughtful lines, Robert. We love our animals to bits.
You may be interested in this Polish saying: A mother’s love is the greatest, then a dog’s, then a sweetheart’s.
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Thank you for your kind comment and the saying!
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yes.
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Thank you.
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This is heartbreaking. I have lost many pets and it always feels like a piece of your heart leaves with them.
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Thank you, Jessica. They offer so much, and expect so little.
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Nicely written, thank you for sharing. We are grieving the loss of our female boxer, it is such a powerful relationship to lose…
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Thank you, Shari. These are indeed powerful relationships.
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