Tag: dailyprompt-1858

Rudyard Kipling has the words

Joey Jones6 Comments

What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?

The Power of the Dog

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie—
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find—it’s your own affair—
But… you’ve given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!).
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone—wherever it goes—for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we’ve kept ’em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long—
So why in—Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

By Rudyard Kipling ( 1865~1936)




Patch

Around the corner….

Joey JonesLeave a comment

What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?

As with light which travels in a straight line, we cannot bend to see what is around the corner.

There may be events anticipated, planned even. There could be dreams to be fulfilled, ambitions to be met, expectations, needs and wants. Sadly there may also be the inevitable or expected passing of a loved one, human or animal.

The American statesmen Benjamin Franklin has been often quoted as saying ‘ ..but in this world nothing is said to be certain, except death and taxes’………

…………The sky is so beautifully blue, puffy little white clouds are idly passing by. There is warmth in the sun. I sit on the mountainside. The grass looks healthy and feels to me keen to grow. There is an energy there. Despite the grass growing underneath me, the clouds passing by and the most gentle of breeze, it is still. Around me, absolute stillness.

If I look up over my shoulder I see part of the path heading to the peak and looking down into a picture of a life lived so far.

Like all folk there have been rapids to navigate, swamps to wade through and rocky roads stumbled along. The waves surfed and the even ground have offered respite.

I’m not looking into the future, wondering and wanting. I’m simply sitting here on the mountainside, enjoying the moment.