Jason's Poem

The Big, Hairy Beast

You were a friend to those inside our home,
and the fear of all outside.
You were the reason the UPS,
and the mailman hated us.
You devoured raw chicken and
gave it back to the green grass.
You barked at bicycles
and howled at music and song.
You listened politely to our every word,
though I doubt you understood much.
You roared like justice,
and slobbered like peace.
Bent and broken by age at last,
you came one last time when I called.
I remembered the holes you once dug
in the bushes by the fence,
as I scratched behind your ears
and whispered my farewell.
Only one hole remains to remind me,
but I have no dirt to fill it in.
(Jason Helsel)

You can check out more of Jason's musings at The Super Salad