I don’t understand why he fills my thoughts

With memories of barking, smiling joy,

His heart about to stop, his neck outstretched,

His final breath a yowl of pain, then death.

So where’s he now, just ashes on a shelf?

It’s hard believing prints alone are left,

His energetic spirit’s gone for good.

I think of him always rolling in grass,

The summer sun above, forever bright,

Another time and place, and still alive.

Is that enough to know the past exists,

A flow of time, a continuum rewound?

I wish his presence near me, warm and soft.

Like flowers growing out towards the light,

Unmatched affection reaches back to night.