By: Ella Keenan

Once young and bright

Your formerly pink, blush fur

Now matted and gray

From all those late nights

Protecting me until day

 

Stuffing now lost

From countless hugs,

Trips, and washes

Now your back is curved

To fit under the crook of my chin

 

Your short, clumped fur

Once lavish and bright

Though faded,

Still soft and soothing

Like a feathery pillow against my skin

 

Your gentle aroma

Only noticeable by me

Releases gusts of my childhood

Smelling like laughter and play

 

Your light brown nose

On the tip of your pure white snout

That could once pass as a mound

Of freshly fallen snow from the wintry sky

Now dusted with gray

But still manages to retain its softness

Due to endless kisses

Causing it to feel like velvet under my skin

 

You were always there

In every moment

From when I was on cloud nine

To when I felt like I hit rock bottom

 

Your floppy ears

Danced in the air

When you soared

Around the room

Like an angel

In my arms

 

The top of your head

Has absorbed what feels to be

Waterfalls of tears

Over what seems to be

Endless years

 

And although invisible

To the human eye

I can see your compassionate, tender smile

From light-years away

 

You watch the days go by

Watching all the endless dawns

Of morning rays

Followed by ceaseless sunsets

Revealing the lavish night sky

 

Each day, you sit and look back

On the good old days

The days where we would do nothing

But sit and play

 

Now,

You sit at home alone

From the crack of dawn

To the pitch black of night

I see you watching from the shelf

With pity in the black voids

You call eyes

I sometimes hear you

Call out in sorrow

As our laughable moments

Slip away

Day by day

 

Years go by

Less laughter

Less tears

You wonder where you will be

In the next few years

 

You watch the scary movies

From your spot in my room

You watch in awe

As I no longer pear over the covers,

No longer hiding my face with fear

 

You realize that I no longer

See the shadows of the trees outside

As monsters

From under my bed

 

You watch as I no longer

Jump from chair to chair

Fearing the floor

Is a pool of lava

Waiting to sear my skin

 

All you see now

Is my lifeless room

Until the day’s chaos slows

And the late night starts to show

 

Except now,

When I leave in the morning

I can almost hear the faint whisper

Of your non-existent voice

Soothing, gentle

Softly begging me to stay

 

Although worn with age

Your once pink, blush fur

Now matted and gray

From all those nights

Protecting me until day

 

Then it dawned upon you

No one could love you

The same way