This is the second and final entry on the loss of our dog, “Action” Jackson, somewhat suddenly last September. The first entry, “only a dog,” was a bit raw, written the morning after he died and tried to look very directly at that experience. Here’s a link to that post if you’d like to look back: https://oldbonesnewsnow.com/2022/11/20/just-a-dog-on-the-loss-of-a-true-heart-friend/
This is more of a reflection on the many lessons Jack taught me in his life and in his dying. I’ve long felt that dogs can be true Bodhisattvas, essentially enlightened beings returning to this plane of Samsara to help us floundering humans move toward our own enlightenment and that of all sentient beings.
Jackson was a Bodhisattva.
what he taught me
that concrete is always cold
and hard
that a stranger may come to embody home
yet fear may always linger
that each of us wants to be loved
but in a very particular way
that it takes great patience
to uncover that way
that trust grows slowly
but may come to have deep roots
that deep roots
are the source of all joy
that a day with a new ball
is truly an exceptional day
that a day with no ball at all
is just as exceptional
that mountain trails
are mainly meant for dogs
that no lake is ever too cold
for a swim
that it’s entirely unclear
which one of us was rescued
that brown eyes in a black dog face
are a form of grace
that grace
is the music of the soul
that watching out for each other
is a full-time job
that the most vigilant watchers
must eventually fail
that even if we think we’re prepared for death
it comes suddenly without warning
that death tears a jagged hole
in everything
that the pain of this tearing is crushing
without end
that all of this pain counts as nothing
compared to the love of a very good dog
that I will be forever rich
for having shared his life
that from now on my life
will be smaller
that in my next life he will be waiting
just as I waited fifty years for him in this one
that it would best if I arrived in that next life
carrying a brand-new ball
