Lily and the Octopus

by Steven Rowley

I, too, am hiding in plain sight. I am walking through life invisible, skulking like a failure, hoping few people notice me.

To focus, I think of how dogs are witnesses. How they are present for our most private moments, how they are there when we think of ourselves as alone. They witness our quarrels, our tears, our struggles, our fears, and all of our secret behaviors that we have to hide from our fellow humans. They witness without judgment.

Isn’t that what poetry is for? For the poet to express something so personal that it ultimately is universal?”

Because dogs live in the present. Because dogs don’t hold

grudges. Because dogs let go of all of their anger daily, hourly, and never let it fester. They absolve and forgive with each passing minute. Every turn of a corner is the opportunity for a clean slate. Every bounce of a ball brings joy and the promise of a fresh chase.

We’re too often guilty of thinking that our parents arrived on this planet as fully functioning adults on the day that we were born. That they don’t have pasts of their own prior to our birth.

A heart is judged not by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.

Be present in the moment. Give spontaneous affection.