POETRY DISPATCH No. 352 | September 6, 2011
“Xenia”
by
Robin Becker
Most days that summer your old dog came up,
in the searing heat, with a failing heart,
from your place, the half-mile uphill to mine―up the steep rise, past the pastured goats, on
the buggy trail that swerves through blueberries.As you pointed out, The Odyssey
is full of tears, everyone weeping
to find and lose and find each other again.Spent, he struggled the last two hundred yards,
ears low, chest heaving. Hearing
the jangling of his tags I knew the godshad chosen me to praise him for his journey,
offer food and water, a place to sleep.
poetry dispatch & other notes from the underground 
Xenia. Such a lovely picture of a/the dog and a wonderful heart felt poetic story. If you love animals-this one will get to you.
Michael Lee Johnson
YOU GOT ME WITH THAT ONE
Wonderful creatures, a gift from God to make us happy. The least we can do is to return the favor.
Norb,
Thanks for sending this out. Great timing. Sue and I had to put down our 11 yr.old Norfolk Terrier “Claire” two weeks ago. Tomorrow I fly to Florida to pick up a six month old female, “Sadie”. She will back home here in Wisconsin on Friday. Our lives will be complete again.
Very moving — I just lost my Back Lab of seven years, thanks, leo
I love your poem. It says so much – without saying too much. Very touching, without being sentimental. Brought tears to my eyes – because dogs are so wonderful.
God bless all of you since everyone here is a lover of nature, God in their way, and wonderful critters we call pets. Michael Lee Johnson. Poet, Itasca, IL.
This tells so much about the poet ! Wonderfully written,
Yes, it’s so lovely, done with such skill, but hurts so much.
That’s a really great poem!! I liked the description, and the link between the Oddyssey and this dog’s journey. Very nice.
Reblogged this on Barbara's space.