I know DKos is a nationally known site for progressives and political discussion. All my previous posts and diaries have pretty much centered on such topics, sometimes strenuously. On occasion I've looked at the Pet diaries and enjoyed them, because I had a lovely little calico cat named Little Mess for 10 years which I raised from a kitten. I post this here because of those diaries and those who participate in them.
My little friend died suddenly about two weeks ago from an unknown issue that gave her anemia, and I am still having some trouble with it, as she was a great support in some rough times. I still don't look at pictures of her because it upsets me, so you won't see any here. I won't dwell on my feelings much either except to say that she left a big hole in my little family of my wife and myself here. Some days, like today, remain harder than others.
One thing the vet sent us with her ashes was a poem about the Rainbow Bridge (you can find it online) and folks meeting their pets after death. I hope some folks find that comforting, but I found it to be too saccharine and sentimental. I have no idea about the spirit of animals and of humans after death, but I do think that our relationship with those small (and not so small) friends are far more than sentiment.
My answer to Rainbow Bridge is below. Thank you for reading and for your thoughts, and for being the online community I call home, in all your varied ways.
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For Those Who Remember
You remember better in your wild memory
the older sunsets we forgot
Of bright fires and choice and hunger
it remains in your deep bones
Solid memory of wide rough hands
offering a cautious gentle moment
Alliance born of time and dangerous dark
you surrendering more than we
And yet you stay still
unnumbered generations of steady spirit
Renewing the bonds with each day
weaving your path in our confusing worlds
The great gulf of mind and body
bridged by care and touch and need
Without a word but by encompassing press
at the break of day and its fall
And, unsought, at the loss
We who remember less
Can not forget the heart of those
who have guarded the ancient ties
And called us back to them
even through the anguish of ending
We will always see you
in the dark just past the fires
Waiting for us, for our rough hands
to reach out and have you to guide us
Through ageless night.
---- In memory of Little Mess by her friend