All Dogs


Madam

You said animals have no souls
God gave them to us
To labor
To be named and used
But without
What you call
Salvation

I said nothing
I will not argue with fools

What I might have said:

Once I had a dog named Tiny
Dachshund, reddish brown
Stupid
She was the perfect companion
For a lonely little girl
Never jumped never bit
Patiently endured carriage rides
And bonnets
And let's-tie-doggy-with-string
Laughed while being tortured
By the cat
	(Sunshine)
She died when I was ten
Run over
Did I mention she was dumb?

And there was Spike
Six and a half pounds
Four teeth, dry skin, stinky
Bulging eyeballs
Cocked his leg against blades of grass
Taunted the sixty pound Chow Chow next door
Safely through the fence
He had a doll
A Chihuahua half his size
	(Ren)
I think it gave him comfort
To have something smaller than he
His only pleasure in life
Was at the end of the day
I in bed would pick him up
To sleep on the quilt

And here is Kira
Destructomutt
She of the chewed leather
The torn up baseboards and linoleum
She cries when we leave
When we come home
She's waiting by the door
And runs like a maniac through the house
But sometimes the day is bad
	(Please don't make me go back tomorrow)
She places her chin upon my knee
She lacks all knowledge and wisdom
Has no end to her kindness

But they have no souls, you said
And cannot pass into this Heaven
In which you insist I must believe

I believe

If such a place exists
A paradise of sorts
For those who patiently toil
There would be sunny places for naps
And cool streams for drinking
And smelly old blankets for tunnelling beneath

And one by one
We bipedal poor come to the gate
Look within
Familiar tongues loll back
Sniffing
And then
The tails begin to wag!
"This one! This one was mine!
Oh let her in!"
The gate opens
We are allowed inside
By their grace

I almost see
Tiny stalking Sunshine as she sleeps
And there
On a spectral quilt
Spike curled up with his Ren in his mouth
Keeping a spot warm
For me

7/20/01