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Thursday, April 4, 2019

#4/31- Dog Days



"The first goodbye"

Creme de Cocoa
fuzzy brown poodle 
waiting in a box
in the corner of the kitchen
after church one Sunday

I do not remember
walking him
playing with him
cuddling him
sleeping next to him

but I do remember
the day I came home
after school
called for him
and he wasn't there
my mother told me
he was
hit by a car

the first time
I understood
goodbye lasts forever

(C) Carol Wilcox

3 comments:

Elisabeth Ellington said...

I feel very grounded in this poem by the details of the first stanza. And I knew it was coming based on the title, but it still felt awful to get to that final stanza!

Cathy said...

Carol, it is so hard to lose our companion --- especially at a young age. We carry those times with us forever. Your last line really tugged at my heart: "the first time I understood goodbye lasts forever."

Mary Lee said...

Heartbreak!