(hope you like this poem by my friend David Belmont as much as I do)

he was born
one week after
my heart attack

he arrived from texas
alone on a plane
ten weeks later

as a puppy
i walked him
ten times a day

i had the time
so did he

he was an
independent dog
who loved his kisses

did joyful
three-sixties
when he got excited

romped
in the snow

played the carom
off the angled wall
in the courtyard
perfectly

made me proud

even later on
he’d occasionally
whip out an old move

then his world
started to
get smaller

now he
is near
his end
of days

the cataracts
that have covered his senses
are beginning to
cover his soul

and we’re
a couple
of old men
going thru
life’s motions
together