Maria Susan Carrington

When I Was A Dog

When I was a dog

I would glide through fields as if they were oceans

And jump

As if I had amazing springs attached to my paws.

I would lap up cool water

That would soothe my lungs and beating heart.

In the dry

Hot summer

I would lay in the moist grass

Chewing on a solid bone.

I would often go on walks for hours

And during those walks I would pause

To smell the enthralling smells of spring

When I was a dog.

Maria, 2000

Melting Sky

As the sun sinks down

Toward the horizon,

And the moon submerges

From the same dusty brittle land,

Dusk comes to earth ever so quietly.

Like a silent death of light,

You lay in a soft comforting bed,

With your beloved head

Resting on a goose feather pillow.

How you wish your goose

Was running free in a field by a crystal clear lake!

He would nestle by the riverbank

In a soft nest.

The sun would be setting there too.

The poet died quietly in her sleep at home in Bethesda. She was sharing a bed with her little sister. No cause of death could be detected. Had she awakened, she would have gone to soccer camp.