My dog has died
I burried him in the garden
Next to the old big tree,
Someday I'll join him there
But now he's gone with his brown coat
His bad manners and his cold nose,
And I believe his soul has dissolved
into the Universe
Like I will be,
Yes I believe I will meet him there
Where he waits for my arrival
Waving his fan-like tail in friendship,
Ai,...I'll not speak of sadness here on earth
Of having lost a beloved companion,
Who has never servile,
His friendship for me is like a procupine
witholding it's authority
Was the friendship of a star, aloof,
With no more intimacy that was called for
With no exaggerations,
He never climb all over me
Licked my face, of followed me ,
Like other dogs obsessed with attention,
No, my dog just used to gazed at me
Paying me the attention that I need
The attention required
To make a vain person like me understand
That being a dog, he was wasting time
But with those eyes so much purer than mine
He'd keep on gazing at me
With a look that reserved for me alone
All his sweet and shaggy life
Always near me
Comforting me
And ask for nothing,
Ai,... how many times I envied his tail
and his smile and joyful steps,
As we walked every morning and evening
No matter sunshine or lonely rainy days
And my dog was sniffing and jogging around
Full of voltage of the day's movement
Yes my wandering dog sniffing around
Light steps jogging lightly happilly
With his tail held high,
joyful, joyful, joyful,
As only dogs know how to be happy,
With the autonomy
Of their high spirits,
There are no goodbyes for my dog who has died
As we never lied to each other,
One thing I loved him most
Was because he never break my heart,
Exept now, that he's gone
and I burried him,
And that's there is to it.
(In memoriam, Casta my dog, March 20, 1999-January 27,2013)
Poem from Pablo Neruda.
