My friends had asked me, can you stay with her
while we are visiting our former home?
For more than one whole day the rations were
untouched but gone at last in unseen roam.

The outdoors called and into yard we went.
The fence seemed good enough to keep us in
but she was called to follow scent to scent
and I eternal watch did there begin.

How many walks we took along the road.
How many times we rested side by side.
How long to hesitate while hurry slowed.
How far to wander letting her decide.

But on her final walk she was alone
and I in tears recalled past pleasures known.

- Robert Stone, 24 January 2010