Apr 24, 2014 Original Poetry
Dog-Joy (Or: Completion)
©April 15th, 2014
By Vijaya Sundaram
I find I take delight
In my dog’s proud walk,
As she picks up a stick
And claims it in the
Name of Holly.
Utterly undone, I kneel,
As she twists her whole
Frame in wordless ecstasy
When she sees me —
This smiling curve of dog
And joyful tail,
And gentle teeth
That grab my hand
And nip and hold it in love
Beyond reckoning.
I am complete.
Who greets me like this?
(Oh, I know I am loved,
But like this? This pretzel-
Shaped frenzy of joy,
This luminous, numinous
Delight in my being?
Oh, I know I don’t deserve it,
But who cares?!)
And when she lies near me,
A love unlike no other,
Her soft, puppy fur
On my feet, warming them,
A wild presence at the
Boundaries of my own,
I find my brain
Dissolves in a mist
Of dog-thought.
I think:
Why dream?
Why do anything?
It doesn’t matter,
Not now.
Oh, I know I’ll arise
And go about my duties
And do stuff, but
I don’t really care
For any of it.
I have this dog,
This now-sleeping
Weight of dog
At my feet.
I am complete.
No, there is no despair here,
Just utter, total quiet
A settling, as it were,
Of soul and self:
A house settling deeper
Into earth.
I am complete
With her on my feet.
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Tags: #Contentment, #Dogs, #NaPoWriMo, Canine joy, Puppy
Apr 7, 2014 Awake in Real Time: Coffee-induced Meditations and Journal Entries
Pinecone and Stick
©April 6th, 2014
By Vijaya Sundaram
Walking, I gaze at the passing of things.
Inexplicably sad.
The sun shines.
A hollow gong sounds.
Heart beats
Dully, solidly.
Birds carol loudly.
Children play.
Dogs cavort.
Springtime blooms.
Silence reigns.
My mind listens with
Half an ear.
Beside me, a tail wags.
A smile curves the air.
A brief “woof” startles.
A stick becomes
A thing of desire.
A pine cone the apex
Of beauty, pride in possession.
A run home, two hearts pounding.
Two sets of legs, one biped
The other, quadruped
Fly over cement sidewalks
Race up the flight
Of stairs, all the way
Home.
Water lapped.
Water sipped.
Things settle.
Sadness meanders away,
Replaced by a pinecone and a stick
In the mouth of my pup.
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Tags: #NaPoWriMo, Holly, pinecones and sticks, Puppy, sadness, springtime, Walk in the park
Feb 28, 2014 Original Poetry
Devil Dog, Angel Pup
A Poem Celebrating Dogginess
By Vijaya Sundaram
February 28, 2014
Rolling black eyes, teeth snapping with a click,
Devil Dog entices with a pink-tongued lick.
Angel Pup, mop-top, furry-snug thing
You lure me when you start to sing.
It’s all music when you whistle high and sweet
I respond to your signal, and the clicking of your feet.
When you’re comfortably fed, your snout, warm and black,
So wet in my hand, says there’s nothing that I lack.
You sigh that sigh of dog-in-its-place
The Universe shifts in a deep, dark space.
You snuggle, little ragamuffin warm and bright,
Claiming me as your own birthright.
Your trust in us, so simple and true
A human and her dog, that’s me and you.
And your sigh, which says that all is well
Fills this room with a flop-eared spell.
Time stands still, then begins once more,
The evening coalesces near the door.
And sudden, the humming fridge ceases to hum
And sudden, another sound starts to thrum.
A truck rumbles by, the highways sing
While soft falls the snow, and the quiet it brings.
The Great Outside where the unknown resides
Is blotted out now – and shunted aside.
But here, now, within, see – dog on my knee
This is peace, true peace, and it rests with me.
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Tags: #Dog, contentment is death, Holly the Standard Poodle Pup, Puppy, Puppy love