Thank you cyndi for sending me this poem.

The Loss of a Heart-Dog

I stood by your bed last night,
I came to have a peep
I could see that you were crying,
you found it hard to sleep

I whined to you softly as
you brushed away a tear,
"it's me, I haven't left,
I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here"

I was close to you at breakfast,
I watched you pour the tea
You were thinking of the many times,
your hands reached down to me

I was with you at the shops today,
your arms were getting sore
I longed to take your parcels,
I wish you could do more

I was with you at my grave today,
you tend it with such care
I want to reassure you,
that I'm not lying there

I walked with you towards the house,
as you fumbled for your key
I gently put my paw on you,
I smiled and said "it's me"

You look so very tired,
and sank into a chair
I tried so hard to let you know,
that I was standing there

It's possible for me,
to be so near you everyday
To say to you with certainty,
"I never went away"

You sat there very quietly,
then smiled, I think you knew
In the stillness of that evening,
I was very close to you

The day is over,
I smile and watch you yawning
And say "goodnight, God bless,
I'll see you in the morning"

And when the time is right for you
to cross the brief divide,
I'll rush across to greet you
and we'll stand, side by side

I have so many things to show you,
there is so much for you to see
Be patient, live your journey out,
then come home to be with me.

- Author Unknown

LEGACY

World spinning out of grasp,
out of reach, out of sight; you are gone.
My heart, my head, my hands empty
as your spot in my lap.
Sightless eyes searched for you.
Soundless voice whispered your name.
Deaf ears listened for your breath.
In a wild place the pain roared,
burned white, and then waned to an ember.
Shadows of the night closed in.

Now a half-luminous ray breaks through.
Memories quicken, dreams take color,
and I know that love never dies.
Liberated from your temporal shell:
you are not gone.
I see your eyes glittering like faith
in every refraction of sunlight.
I hear your bark echoing like promise
in the baying of the wind.
I sense your presence rippling like energy
in all the sweep of hopeful sky.
I feel your love constant and warming like dawn
in its old comfortable place in my soul.
And I know -- as I always knew --
That I gained much more than I lost.

Anne L. Taylor

This is the best one I know.

The House Dog's Grave (for Haig, an English Bulldog)
by Robinson Jeffers

I've changed my ways a little; I cannot now
Run with you in the evenings along the shore,
Except in a kind of dream; and you,
If you dream a moment,
You see me there.

So leave awhile the paw-marks on the front door
Where I used to scratch to go out or in,
And you'd soon open; leave on the kitchen floor
The marks of my drinking-pan.

I cannot lie by your fire as I used to do
On the warm stone,
Nor at the foot of your bed; no,
All the nights through I lie alone.

But your kind thought has laid me less than six feet
Outside your window where firelight so often plays,
And where you sit to read‚
And I fear often grieving for me‚
Every night your lamplight lies on my place.

You, man and woman, live so long, it is hard
To think of you ever dying.
A little dog would get tired, living so long.
I hope that when you are lying
Under the ground like me your lives will appear
As good and joyful as mine.

No, dears, that's too much hope:
You are not so well cared for as I have been.
And never have known the passionate undivided
Fidelities that I knew.
Your minds are perhaps too active, too many-sided...
But to me you were true.

You were never masters, but friends. I was your friend.
I loved you well, and was loved. Deep love endures
To the end and far past the end. If this is my end,
I am not lonely. I am not afraid. I am still yours.

Hi Nancy,
This was given to me when I lost my beloved Lab, Spencer. I still read it often. I like it because it is short yet says it all.

"...Grieve not,
nor speak of me with tears,
but laugh and talk of me
as if I were beside you...
I loved you so--
'twas Heaven here with you."

Isla Paschal Richardson

Sometimes it's good to cry along with friends you never knew. I find it helpful, if I can't think of what to say, to ask a grieving client/friend to tell/write me their favorite poem-like epitaph of their lost one: it helps them grieve and me empathize with their grief. I also highly recommend for renters and even those home owners who think they may some day move, to cremate and carry ashes of our lost loved ones. It's more obviously not them, but it's my memory trigger and I can take them with me wherever I may move to. Too many well tended graves eventually lost. Namaste, Thia

I wrote this when my beautiful golden retriever Brandi passed away June 12th 2006.I still ache for Brandi today.
Soft Whisper

by Lanie Blackmon.........................................

Soft whisper

My best friend spoke to me last night
a soft whisper in my ear.
I woke up and looked around the room,
I was startled, yet I had no fear.

My best friend said that all is fine
Rainbow bridge is so much more.
That there was so much love up there,
even a beautiful ocean shore.

There is fields and fields of green green grass
and the sky has different shades of blue.
There are flowers, mountains, trees and clouds,
everything they said it was, is true.

My best friend whispered in my ear last night
saying "Please don't cry or be sad.
That what was done, had to be done,
for me to live my life now, so be glad".

My best friend said that I did the right thing
an unselfish act on my part.
And that this pain & sadness I feel
will be gone soon from my heart.

I asked my best friend "How could this be
I miss you so much everyday.
That my heart hurts so much for you,
I wish there could of been another way".

My best friend whispered in my ear last night
"You will always be in my heart.
Go on & live and love another,
because we will never really be apart".

My best friend whispered in my ear last night
"it's time for me to go towards the light.
I just wanted to stop & say to you
go on my best friend, I'll be alright.

I carry your unconditional love with me
I have done this from the very start".
I whispered back to my best friend last night,
"I'll always love you with all my heart."

So good-bye my best friend as I looked up at the sky
a shooting star I see in a straight line.
Moving fast across the sky & out of sight,
I whispered,
"Good -bye my best friend, now, I'll be fine".
By Lanie Blackmon 12/12/06