For Grant

Grief

Cats peer from the dark

A snake is coiled, ready

Skeletons stretch beneath white sunbeams

Summer

You said you couldn’t stand the thought of your dog’s mortality, a small dog with big eyes. You were as far away as the ocean when you said that.

A kitten’s pink tongue

An axe in a stump of wood

A bright carnation against a black sky

Fall

Sometimes I can’t stop thinking about it, you said. To think of him hurt is too much. Small dogs live longer than big ones, I told you. There is time.

A turtle trapped on his back

A black rainbow

An eclipsed sun

Winter

In the dark, it’s comforting to put a hand on a dog’s side, to feel him breathe, the rise and fall.

There is so little time.