Prayer for the Good Dog

I approach the Holy Wholeness,
The Unimaginable Infinity,
Thinking of a small funny piece of it,
A good dog I knew.
He died last week
And we miss him.

He was an odd shape,
Barrel-chested, long body and short legs
And when he trotted on one of his walks,
He kind of swayed from side to side
And bounced up and down.
It was actually kind of jolly
In a dog sort of way.
He was a stubborn boy,
And he didn't want to do what he didn't want to do.
I admired that, even when I had to pull him down the sidewalk
Because he wasn't ready to go home just yet.

I met this dog when he was a puppy.
He wasn't my dog, but I imprinted on him a little bit
And when he saw me coming down the street he'd go nuts with joy.
No one else has ever gone nuts with joy upon seeing me
And I never took this for granted.
When his people walked him past my building
He would stop and hunker down (I told you he was stubborn)
And sometimes I pretended this was so he could visit with me
But I think this was mostly because he aspired
To the eating of my cats.
When he did sometimes gain entry
They sat on the sofa, looking down at him, snickering.
He had very short legs.

This fine boy
Had a very good life.
He loved and was much loved.
There is no tragedy in his death at age 14
But nevertheless,
We miss him.

Blessed Holy Wholeness
We give thanks for our time with that good dog.

Amen