Poetry Sunday

We're a dog-loving family. Our first dog was Wooly, a cute and personable Yorkshire/Scottish Terrier mix, and since Wooly left us, we've had Punky and Nessa, and now our grand-dog Clara (you've met both Nessa and Clara in this space when they've done guest posts). It was Clara who suggested this poem by Rudyard Kipling for today's Poetry Sunday ...

The Power of the Dog

by Rudyard Kipling

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie --
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find -- it's your own affair --
But . . . you've given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone -- wherever it goes -- for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve;

For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long --
So why in -- Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?


President Harry Truman supposedly once said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." He was dead on with that comment, but I'd go one further ... if you want a loyal and faithful friend, regardless of where you live, get a dog.

Clara seconds the motion.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo