Kedah has gone away.

He has been away before

but then he resonated.

Now there is no whisper,

no distant feel from him.

He is far, far away.

 

His scent is still here

but his place is cold.

Not as before, when we

knew he would return.

Now we only feel sad.

 

Our Maureen is sad too.

She has wept, she has wept.

When she is sad she weeps.

When she weeps we feel pain.

We feel a deep loss and

we know that Kedah is gone.

 

We will miss him, far away.

He was so gentle and kind.

He was our friend, so still.

We feel no warm thoughts.

We feel empty.

He is far, far away, far away

He is far away!

 

He will not come home.

It is his time,

Like Rosie, it is his time.

We all have a time

but this time we know empty.

He has gone,

Dear Kedah is gone, far away.

 
 

David Garlick, Sidney, January, 2008
 
 

KEDAH, a special being.

Buddhists believe that we are all; whether louse, cockroach, dog or human, on a journey through life to improve our level of Being in our own existence through time.

 If this benign belief has any voracity then we should feel comfort in the knowledge that, though it causes us pain, the speed with which dogs move on, though far greater than ours, is perhaps a reward. I will not dwell on the relative merits of lice or men but of dogs there can be little doubt that many of them deserve to move on quickly, to better things. In this regard, their relatively short time with us, may be an indication of the difficulty of their lives and the extraordinary ability they demonstrate in navigating this vale of tears.

 When we consider the likes of Kedah, a dog amongst billions, we can see and feel his affection and the calming influence of his presence. He is so like what we might hope to become but may never attain. Like a beacon or navigation mark he will help to guide us to a safe place, if only to allow us time to gather ourselves for the next part of our journey.

 Of course we will sorely miss him, when he must go but we will wave farewell to a good friend and companion, knowing that what ever his destination he will have done his best to live his life here with loving calm and affection.