Stardust

Coming back home
She always heads for
The lower door,
The one she's
Never been through
As if, today by magic
It was our door.
Her way of trying
to avoid the stairs
Which, to a
fifteen year old
Border Collie (not really)
Are daunting.

Some days
she is able
To climb
each stair
In sequence.
Not her puppy
scramble rhythm,
but plodding...
Her gait ...in
shuffling triplets
Ka chung ka chung ka chung

Those days I reward her
With a pat on the head
And all my relief
Knowing we cheated
Time

Some days
she stalls a bit
And needs
a physical prompt
To remind her where
Her haunches are.
We make it to the top
And when we get to the top
she looks at me
As if to say "thanks"
But really
wondering
"Why?"

Some days
She collapses
And I try
To keep her from
Tumbling backward

Today was like that.

I picked her up
And carried her
To the top
Of the stairs
And as I put her
Down gently,
We looked
at each other
In symbiotic
wonderment
And she licked
My tears