Together

Posted by Jeanne on February 11, 2009

“If a dog dies,” asks mine, with troubled eyes,
“Can he, like you, expect to live again?
Is there a corner in your Paradise
For faithful dogs, or is it all for men?”

Must I, who failed him ne’er before, reply
With solemn, crushing and dogmatic “No”?
(Because the Lord of creatures low and high
Would surely have told man, if it were so!)

Or shall I say, if he survive at all,
‘Twill be his bliss to wait outside the gate,
But never hear my old familiar call,
Though I, within, still for his coming wait?

Can I, who know a dog’s capacity for trust
And love more fine than ever mine,
Hold that for him these graces end in dust,
Which in the soul of man immortal shine?

Dear canine pal, with wistful ageing eyes,
While vainly for an answer do we grope,
Dream on your long sweet dreams of Paradise:
Together shall we trust, and love, and HOPE!