For Cid (February, 2000-August 4, 2009)
Poet Ken Wolman’s dog, Cid, died Tuesday.
He wrote a poem about him Wednesday.
We’re publishing it here, with his permission, Thursday.
Wolman lives in central New Jersey.
SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY IN PUBLIC PLACES”
(after a title by John Engman)
I started to write a love poem or
some bullshit variant of a love poem but then
the dog got sick and died the same day
and he took my memory with him, what-
ever might have been left after a minor
stroke and the remnants of grinding gears
and I forgot all about love poems because
I loved someone who would have seen them
as rhetorical fiddle, words he didn’t need to know
when all he needed to know was my hand
stroking his head, embracing his strong neck,
his knowledge that I would not leave him
until he had to leave me first.
KTW/8-5-09
Posted by jwoestendiek August 6th, 2009 under Muttsblog.
Tags: cid, death, died, dog, ken wolman, new jersey, ode, pet, poem, poetry
Comments
Comment from Eighteenpaws
Time August 6, 2009 at 6:49 pm
A Killer, JW. With all the wonders of modern science, why have we not been able to work to extend the lives of our pets beyond pretty much a decade? I have buried many and it is never easy, no matter what age or circumstance. Bless ‘em all, and I would love to believe that we will all frolick together one day. THANKS
Comment from Ken Wolman
Time August 6, 2009 at 10:17 pm
I’m the author and I thought I’d butt in. Cid died of splenic hemangiosarcoma, in other words a cancer of the spleen that caused it to rupture and bleed into his abdomen. Mercifully, it did its work from dawn ’til dusk. But his weakness on his last day, his plain exhaustion, was terrible to watch. He could barely stand. The odds he would survive surgery were slim, so the decision was really simple though wrenching. And it was indeed a sad joy for us to sit on the floor with him in his last moments and tell him how much we loved him for what he brought us. The National Canine Cancer Foundation (Fund?) works on cures for these terrible things; and while this is not a commercial endorsement, I hope that if enough of us fight these illnesses, one day there will few reasons we have to.
Comment from jwoestendiek
Time August 6, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Thanks for your thoughts, Ken, and for letting us use your poem. Our sympathies are with you.
John
Comment from Mariela
Time August 6, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I had that feeling once! }:-((((