poetry 2017 / 068

Here are the two prompts for today:
    Write a life poem. The poem could be about the miracle of life, the complexity of life, the game of Life, or anything else that means life for you. Or…
    Write a death poem. For most organisms, life leads to death. So this should be as full of possibility as the life poem.

Jester

I'm pretty sure I killed the dog.

All these years, and that last breath

still haunts me.

Wrapped in his favourite blanket,

the hole dug at the edge of the field

where he used to chase rabbits

I gave his broken, road-torn body

one last hug.

I heard his breath.

I'm sure it was just my pushing the last air from his lungs,

the broken ribs scraping his sternum,

the tiny spirit leaping to the sky

but years later,

years later,

I worry that I buried him alive,

and the tears return anew.