Because you will not be forever,
Hope against time though I may,
I paint your picture in my memory,
Eyes blue with age, muzzle gone gray.
Because you walked with me in Springtime,
Puppy-clumsy, running free.

As you grew, we grew together-
You became a part of me.
Because you shared with me my sorrows,
Not understanding- simply there.

Often spurring me to laughter--
My friend, you know how much I care.
Because the years have slowed your fleetness,
Though your spirit still is strong.

I promise I will take more time now,
So that you can go along.
Because you do not fear the future,
Living only in the now,

I draw strength from your example-
Yet time keeps slipping by somehow.
Because the day will soon be coming
When I will no longer see

You rise to greet me-but in memory
You will always walk with me.

~by Gayl Jokiel~