Dedicated to everyone who has loved and lost a dog.
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 tumor 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 in 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?