What's it all about? Why do people want to die?
The animal kingdom don't question life or death. They go about their business of finding enough to eat and accept death as their due. Of course, we can't read their minds, so we don't really know.
The highlighted verse of this poem, about the last dog who will ever live with us, was read out on an American radio show a couple of nights ago.
LIVING CREATURE
A break in the traffic sound
Sifting through silence around
The hollow echo of the past
Love of our lives, and the last.
The loss still rings in the home
And all about when we roam
The wood where we used to walk
Never was a need to talk.
In the flashes of past scenes
Perfect love, never demeaned
Dependant for every need
Demanding that you take heed.
Rest in the heat of the sun
Then a memory re-runs
Loving glance and trustful eyes
Mesmerises, makes me cry.
Living creature that he was
He had similar needs because
We shared the same world by choice
Heart twisting trust without voice.
Each room rings a different tune
Wishing I could see him soon
The loss makes me feel so small
Memory holds me enthralled.
Why am I telling you about this abundance of experience?
Perhaps I'm winding down. I don't see the need to cling to a life of pain and disability. My darling husband looks after me now and I'd never consider leaving him.
Last night, he called for his mother. He's a strong man in body and mind, his tall frame thin now with illness. He's started treatment for cancer and sits in pain every night, determined to hold on to the last shadow of his time. Perhaps part of that need is to assist me.
Why do we want to prolong or shorten our life? Why can't we accept our fate in the way animals do?
The two greatest messages left by Jesus of Nazareth were: Love your neighbor as yourself, and love God. I do both.
What's it all about, dear friend? Are we just here to live and die, or is the greater plan to learn by experience?