Tuesday, December 11, 2007

In honor of Mo

My partner and I had to put our dog Mo down today. He was 13 years old and a major source of companionship in our lives.

It is funny what I miss about not having him around. He was a very sweet, good dog but it's not his goodness or sweetness I miss. It is the dailyness of Mo.

Just knowing I had to get up in the morning and take him out for a walk or make sure the trash can was secure so he wouldn't get into the garbage, or cleaning up his poop in the backyard so that walking in the yard wouldn't become an obstacle course.

So much of love is about companionship and not "qualities." It's about the time we spend together rather than our remarkable gifts. It's verbs not nouns, creating together rather than the created.

Mary Oliver writes about this beautifully in her poem Percy (Four). I'm sharing it here in honor of Mo.


I went to church.
I walked on the beach
and played with Percy.

I answered the phone
and paid the bills
I did the laundry.

I spoke her name
a hundred times.

I knelt in the dark
and said some holy words.

I went downstairs
I watered the flowers,
I fed Percy.

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