Day 2 - 30 Poems in 30 Days

The Grace of Animals

I want what is acceptable for dogs,
to curl up beside the sick and dying,
to lean into another knowledge,
provide a place for someone‘s hand
when anything else falls short for comfort.

Children have that.
Remember how they lay for days
in the golden hay of old stalls.
While their four-footed friends
drift between them and death.

Remember the shoe-box
ceremonies for birds and kittens,
fish and gerbils.  The unspoken
heart-hurts and songs
given to the end of day.

The language of animals and children
begins and ends with touch,
a drawing near, a wordlessness
where everything is said
simple and easy – like the breath of God.

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