A Poem for Daji

Joys are weighed by burdens lifted

a train ride in a tote bag,

a clack of claws on the hardwood,

a black mouth upturned in waiting

for sweet potato snacks.

Severe loyalty in the shape of a tiny sweat bean

jubilation dances in the form of a twisted tail

pushing through the breeze of a park,

weaving through friends and the short time left.

Love knows nothing more than the souls that graze beside us

in a decade of chosen family,

from pound to urn

We stand beside you

in blindness,

slow walks that were once a sprint,

and in late-night worries

where we put our cheek to your nose and wait

for the evidence of life.

Our love for you ebbs through the anxiety

that we knew would come

on that day you were adopted,

tiny and vulnerable

from the pound on the upper side

where our lives were changed forever

by your short existence.