We Are Grateful

We have joyfully shared comradeship
for so many years, it is difficult to
imagine life without her. She has
trusted us to return with her, safe and
content, after all our adventures,
none of which, as a small and delicate
dog, had she ever shirked, but met full
on, trustingly and as curious as we.

She has canoed lakes and rivers with
us, portaged long stretches of broken
trails, snuggled deep down into our
shared sleeping bag after torrential
forest storms, climbed mountain peaks
under the sun's fierce glare, leaped
boulders that daunted us, her guides.

She has outlived those of her canine
peers when as a puppy, she was being
introduced to the arcane world of canines
and their human pack leaders. She has
grown progressively fragile, dim of sight,
faint of hearing and inexplicably mute.
Her dark eyes see far-off visions that we
cannot see, and she stands motionless,
waiting for something we cannot know.

She must linger yet awhile with us,
for nothing, including her growing
feebleness, has yet convinced us she
must leave. She yet craves life, so it
must be carefully nurtured. The great
adventure that lurks too near, which will
be hers alone this time, has been waylaid
and we are, for the moment, grateful.