Poem For Bud

Memorable dog
that you are, pissing
on your trees,
lying down in prime sun to sleep,
offering a belly for my comfort
when I need to touch living flesh,
alerting on the slightest triviality
and reporting it to all:
“THERE! THERE! THERE! THERE!”

I”m going to miss you
one of these days, I know
that already.  No way we’ll
spend the rest of our time
together, bud; you’ll go on
before me, you and your
signal tail and fresh eyes
on things I’ve long ignored.

I’m sure I’m going to see you
when I get there, wherever
it is. There will have to be things
I need to see, or will want
to see.  Bud, I’m counting on you:

wait for me, just like you do now,
and shake a tail when you see me;
roll around in front of me
and then leap up like your old
puppy self and point me
toward the good stuff, the bad stuff,
all the stuff; tell me all about it, Bud,
with a sun drenched yelp of
“THERE! THERE! THERE! THERE!”