Dear Upa,
I'm sick and it's been a while since I wrote a poem
Weight
There is power in a dog's paw. It's a power so fundamental, where you won't notice it at first, but it's there.
Mouth open, tongue hanging, you're covered in a layer of dirt
but if there's one thing I've learnt,
it's that your paw on my knee stands for something.
It stands for faith. You know I leave everyday and it's something you hate.
I can see it in the way the fireflies that live in your eyes die a little, but always, you wait.
You wait for me to come back, and it's like a birthday. Your tail is wagging again and your tongue is hanging again and no matter how much my shoulders are sagging again, suddenly, when the fireflies that live in your eyes come back to life, I do too.
It's true. There's power in the way you sit next to me and put your head on my knee. It stands for love,
so pure and unfiltered that the sun above
on a warm summer day would be jealous.
There's power in the way you try to fit two balls in your mouth, and both start dripping with saliva. It's not fun, almost tripping over strewn toys on the ground but the way the fireflies in your eyes dance when I pretend to throw the ball but don't, it's worth the chance.
Sometimes, you fall asleep in my lap. You're curled up and content,
and I can't think of an evening better spent than one with you kicking me while you dream.
You're a dream. There's no other way to describe the way you make me feel, the way my heart screams when you look at me and your tail begins to wag.
It's really hard not to brag
about the fact that it's clear I'm your favourite. You're a dream, and I never want to wake up.
I don't know how someone abandoned you, how someone voluntarily gave you up. If I could, I'd keep you in my arms, with your head hanging over my shoulder like a baby. Then maybe, just maybe I could pretend for a moment that you have the happy life you deserve. That the world wasn't so mean, that you didn't move from shelter to shelter with so much love in your heart for humans, the very people who didn't have it in their heart to love you like you should have been.
There's power in the way you chased those squirrels, and I just ran with you, dazed. It was as if you didn't know what giving up meant. The way you ate everything you got your paw on, and sent
the grass flying when you decided to roll in it.
You were half Dalmatian, black and white,
but you filled my world with colour
and I hope the fireflies in your eyes still light
up for someone else.
There was power in your paw. I didn't notice it at first, but it was there. And now you aren't.
Mouth open, tongue hanging, maybe you're covered in dirt in some other corner of the city, and all I can say
is that I hope you're happy.
I hope I get to see you some day.
If I close my eyes and try to imagine it, I can feel your paw on my knee and see the fireflies in your eyes.
I hate it, just like you did.
But always; I'll wait.
my eyes are sweating
Bye for now,
Aditi
I'm sick and it's been a while since I wrote a poem
Weight
There is power in a dog's paw. It's a power so fundamental, where you won't notice it at first, but it's there.
Mouth open, tongue hanging, you're covered in a layer of dirt
but if there's one thing I've learnt,
it's that your paw on my knee stands for something.
It stands for faith. You know I leave everyday and it's something you hate.
I can see it in the way the fireflies that live in your eyes die a little, but always, you wait.
You wait for me to come back, and it's like a birthday. Your tail is wagging again and your tongue is hanging again and no matter how much my shoulders are sagging again, suddenly, when the fireflies that live in your eyes come back to life, I do too.
It's true. There's power in the way you sit next to me and put your head on my knee. It stands for love,
so pure and unfiltered that the sun above
on a warm summer day would be jealous.
There's power in the way you try to fit two balls in your mouth, and both start dripping with saliva. It's not fun, almost tripping over strewn toys on the ground but the way the fireflies in your eyes dance when I pretend to throw the ball but don't, it's worth the chance.
Sometimes, you fall asleep in my lap. You're curled up and content,
and I can't think of an evening better spent than one with you kicking me while you dream.
You're a dream. There's no other way to describe the way you make me feel, the way my heart screams when you look at me and your tail begins to wag.
It's really hard not to brag
about the fact that it's clear I'm your favourite. You're a dream, and I never want to wake up.
I don't know how someone abandoned you, how someone voluntarily gave you up. If I could, I'd keep you in my arms, with your head hanging over my shoulder like a baby. Then maybe, just maybe I could pretend for a moment that you have the happy life you deserve. That the world wasn't so mean, that you didn't move from shelter to shelter with so much love in your heart for humans, the very people who didn't have it in their heart to love you like you should have been.
There's power in the way you chased those squirrels, and I just ran with you, dazed. It was as if you didn't know what giving up meant. The way you ate everything you got your paw on, and sent
the grass flying when you decided to roll in it.
You were half Dalmatian, black and white,
but you filled my world with colour
and I hope the fireflies in your eyes still light
up for someone else.
There was power in your paw. I didn't notice it at first, but it was there. And now you aren't.
Mouth open, tongue hanging, maybe you're covered in dirt in some other corner of the city, and all I can say
is that I hope you're happy.
I hope I get to see you some day.
If I close my eyes and try to imagine it, I can feel your paw on my knee and see the fireflies in your eyes.
I hate it, just like you did.
But always; I'll wait.
my eyes are sweating
Bye for now,
Aditi
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