Question

When we moved to West Virginia in 1982, we brought with us a dog named Jasper, part beagle, part mutt.

Losing Jasper

Tell yourself the worst part is the hair.
Embarrassed to find them in the fridge.
A friend in black sits in the easy chair,
rises, back of her clothes covered in it.

Or those nights when he trees something,
always right outside the open window
of the bedroom, keeps you up all night,
three barks, then two, then three, then two.

Or the farts. Could clear the room faster
than the promise of ice cream, and always
someone saying “Jesus, Jasper!” Fanning air,
opening windows, lighting matches.

And then one morning his rigid body
on the porch rips holes in our hearts.
Dig the hole, wrap him in a blanket,
tree yourself, a howl no different than his.

#Jesus #dogs

ProudMary 8

Answer 1

...sad enough to bring a tear...a lot of us have been there...

Answer 2

Putting my Grania down was the hardest thing I've ever done. For the first time in 30 years I had wished a man was in my life to help us. The vet told me I should have done it 2 years before I did, but after 17 years with her, how could I? That was 2012.
Then, in 2015 I was in ICU for 5 days and one night she came to me. She was beside my bed and sooo happy to see me. I wanted to be with her. I fought with all the strength I had left to go with her. But my feet were stuck in a web, a very colorful grid like web. I fought and fought this web until I fell asleep with exhaustion. I really, really wanted to go be with her...

Answer 3

I feel your loss. Well done.

Answer 4

I had a 13-inch tricolor beagle back in the early 1990`s she was a rather smat dog had learned about beagles first hand. There was not a collar or harness that she could not escape from including a choke collar. She would escape and take the other dog with her which was a Dalmatianmuch bigger than her self. Nice write

Answer 5

Hits home. Nursing an old black lab in his twilight myself.

Answer 6

It's really tough losing pets. My favorite cat was named Jasper, and it really hurt to lose him. The same with many dogs. I have a 14 year old mutt right now, and it's going to be very hard to lose him. Good poem.


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