Dharma by Billy Collins

My dog, Cody, and one of the many kittens he's rescued from feral catdom and given to us.  He cares for them like a mother cat until they're grown.  A truly kind, compassionate, loving being!!!

Dharma
by Billy Collins

The way the dog trots out the front door
every morning
without a hat or an umbrella,
without any money
or the keys to her dog house
never fails to fill the saucer of my heart
with milky admiration.

Who provides a finer example
of a life without encumbrance—
Thoreau in his curtainless hut
with a single plate, a single spoon?
Ghandi with his staff and his holy diapers?

Off she goes into the material world
with nothing but her brown coat
and her modest blue collar,
following only her wet nose,
the twin portals of her steady breathing,
followed only by the plume of her tail.

If only she did not shove the cat aside
every morning
and eat all his food
what a model of self-containment she would be,
what a paragon of earthly detachment.
If only she were not so eager
for a rub behind the ears,
so acrobatic in her welcomes,
if only I were not her god.

from "Sailing Alone Around the Room".

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Who can not love Billy Collins?  He's the poet of the average man/woman.  I own all of his books.  My only bitch is that he doesn't write fast enough.   :-)  Happy Friday!! 

Blessings,

~Marion


"Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is how dogs spend their lives." ~Sue Murphy

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"Any member introducing a dog into the Society's premises shall be liable to a fine of one pound. Any animal leading a blind person shall be deemed to be a cat." ~Oxford Union Society, London, Rule 46


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"The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue." ~Author Unknown

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