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” was published in The Lake in July 2016, and subsequently appeared here in May 2017.
O at the Edges 
Happy Mother’s Day!
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Thanks, Andrew. FYI, I just found this in my spam folder. Dunno why it was there.
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You’re welcome.
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Nicely crafted, nicely crafted indeed
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Thanks very much!
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My pleasure.
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so poignant
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Thank you. The poem was originally drafted on Mother’s Day, a few months before we had to put down the dog, and of course I was thinking about my mother.
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I’m touched by this. The melancholy of regret. I, too, have a four-legged partner -I value her greatly 🙂
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Thanks very much. Regrets are inevitable, but that doesn’t make them any easier to absorb.
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Regrets… so hard to accept..
Lovely write 😊
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They are indeed, LaMarr. Thank you.
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😊😊😊
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Absolutely stunning and beautifully poignant, Bob! And interestingly, as soon as I read the first line in the first stanza, what came to mind was “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…”, just the way it sounded and how you sounded reading it!
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Thanks, Lynne. Hmm. That’s interesting. I like that you found that connection.
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A very tender piece, Bob. We buried our dog under an apple tree. As my wife, who had terminal myeloma, tossed earth over Paddy, I was choked with the thought that we would be burying her next
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Oh, Derrick. How poignant and difficult. Thank you for sharing.
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Lovely piece
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Thank you!
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Brilliant & magisterial, Bob. This one gets me every time. The perfect poem, truly.
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Ah, thanks, Leigh! The poem was originally drafted on a Mother’s Day, while thinking about my mom and ailing dog…
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