Written in 2008...


Sitting with Chaka alone, watching teevee last night
I started unconsciously doing some math.
I am almost fifty-five, Chaka is almost six,
The cats are one and eight-ish...

Somehow cats have always been replaceable, but dogs... no.
So ,"if I live", as the old line from 'CATCH-22' said,
Chaka will be damn old by the time I retire, if at all.
The cats, who knows.

A quarter of a century or more ago my Dad took in a tortoise,
Named 'Willy', who had lived all his life, inside, on carpet.
Willy could not use his front legs very well, just slid along the carpet.
Somehow Dad sympathized.

The Old Man took a real shine to this critter, feeding him,
Grapes and lettuce and canned corn till his shell strained
To grow into a new size for his body.
A new experience for them both.

Not long before he died Dad looked at me and said,
"What kind of fool gets a pet that will outlive him?"
"hell maybe by as much as a hundred years!?"
I found a good home for Willy after Dad was gone.

Odd thoughts in the night
from a man who has no one else,
And values the love of the four legged
Hearts around him.