Ripley

Ripley is the purest of friends
there are no lies between us
Her love is total but she gets pissed off at me;
the little furrow of the brow,
forgiven I get the little grin

Liquid brown eyes talk to me so loudly;
Her nose twitches with pleasure
at a world I can't smell
Her ears perk up at special words
She knows how to spell "treat"

Her eyes so pure, so much purer than mine
She gazes around in delight
For life, for me, for everything
She is always near me; being, doing or dreaming
Sometimes asking

I have followed Her golden tail
swishing as She explores
rotted crabs, the swirling waves:
when she rushes to introduce Herself to birds and squirrels
and then looks confused when they don't stop to say "Hi"

Yes, I believe in a "being" heaven
I have been preparing for a long time
when She will no longer share my bed
when She will no longer roll over
to expose that white, soft belly for rubbing

I will never say goodbye
and that's all there is to it.