Author: Jeff Shapiro

Memories have an odd rhythm…
Sometimes they come with clear bell notes…
Sometimes with deep raucous tones…
Always in love with the morning.

They seldom give me advice…
Often make my bushy eyebrows twitch…
Saying too frequently, “you could have done better”
Or “you did great,” exaggerating a moment with a friend.

Memories are able to drift through vents…
A breeze of sadness, or happiness, or peace…
I stop them before the pot begins to steam…
Because they are asking for a tithe I do not want to give.

Memories add shape to the web of intricacy…
A voice that is eternally taking shape…
For me I cling to the happy ones and throw away the sad…
It is easy, I just use the gift that heaven has given me…
Forgiveness and compassion.

I love you,

Annie

I am going to show you my secret side…
The one where I’m not brushed and groomed…
Where I am alive only in my bristles…
My fur as golden as whiskey.

The side where I bark, just for the sound of it…
Where I look at things with a narrow eye…
Wandering through the crowds of black and white…
A giant among pups and men.

Here, the world has many voices…
It can speak with the voice of a king…
Or the tenderness of a mother…
If I want to stop hearing it speak…
I need only render an opinion.

I like everything about this side of me…
Here, time is not my enemy…
There is no “was,” or “will be,” only “is…”
Yep, only you, me and eternity.

I love you,

Annie

I have a shadow…
It likes to play hide and go seek…
Poof, it is gone and then back again…
Always staying just beyond the length of my paw.

My shadow is no friend to words…
It doesn’t know time…
Knows nothing of the past…
Knows nothing of the future.

When I stare too long at my shadow, I see the shapes of others…
Then it becomes the darkest…
Unleashing a flood of judgments…
Even though the shadow I see, is only my own.

I have learned everything I know from my shadow…
It is so obvious to me now…
If I learn to love my shadow…
My shadow will truly love me…
And then I can truly love you.

I love you,

Annie

Yep, I’m a nibbler…
Everything in this world needs a nibble…
I nibble at anything I can find…
Oh yeah, can you please pass the meatloaf.

I have no answer for my problem…
Who knows? Maybe it’s the right thing to do…
I’ve tried to nibble everything…
Even those white spots on a stone (not so tasty.)

Nibbling is the source of my adventure.,,
I follow my nose into the folds of the hills…
Always making up for lost time…
The whole world seems waiting to be nibbled.

Sorry, I’m not very good at sharing my nibbles…
You’ll have to find your own stash…
But I warn you not to get too close to me…
I may nibble you.

I love you,

Annie

I have spoken to the heavens…
The heavens have spoken to me…
They are my friend…
Everything can be learned from them.

They told me that I am more ink than blank pages…
I should save being scared for things really scary…
That I should stop being so hard on myself…
Because everyone is a little frayed along the edges.

They told me that sometimes miracles need a little help…
That my life is like lines in a crescendo…
Cornering every angle…
Not yet reaching its peak.

The heavens have taught me to change with every season…
That there is power in my little legs…
That the most important thing I can do is listen…
Because that is where I will find you.

I love you,

Annie

I’m almost domesticated…
My butlers did it to me…
With all those liver treats and biscuits…
Turning my ferocious spirit into a lap pup…
But today I am going to reject that notion…
And listen to the wolf inside.

There are too many layers on top of my original design…
Making me seem like everyone’s pup…
A prisoner to the supper bowl…
A slave to the sound of kibble.

But be careful…
My bite is not painless…
Ask the black snake that wandered into my yard…
Or the goose who thought its squawk would scare me away.

So, which will it be today…
Annie or the wolf…
You never know…
So, be careful when you see me crouched on the ground…
I may mistake you for a copperhead.

Grrrr!

Oh, I mean….

I love you,

Annie

It is a slow art…
To walk through fire without getting burned…
Like Daniel, whole and unblemished…
Understanding yet another secret about ourselves.

It is like being pulled through a knothole…
Past so many sketches and blueprints…
Where nothing resembles the answer…
Emerging without even the faintest smell of smoke.

For each of us, the temperature of the furnace is different…
What is hot for me may be cool for you…
Some flames being pasty and pimply…
Others glinting like the sun.

I have not yet learned how to dance in the flames…
I see others, the child-like people…
But the sparks always lead to something new and exciting…
And somehow, I emerge as a better pup.

I love you,

Annie

I rise when my heart is open…
Like an eagle catching an updraft in the wind…
So full of trust, without fear…
With always changing glimpses…

I fall when my heart is closed…
For good reason or not…
Tossed about like a hat in the wind…
Overcome with worry.

Today, my heart is open…
A brand-new Annie has awoken from her sleep…
I’m young, I’m a puppy…
Skipping down the pebbled pathways.

Yesterday, my heart was closed…
There was no happiness at any level of my breakfast…
I was in that familiar place of feeling unfamiliar…
Surrounded by too many questions about right and wrong.

Which one do you think I like the most?
Opened and closed both stand on the edge of the dance floor…
The answer is obvious…
Because I love to dance.

Come dance with me!

I love you,

Annie

There is a songbird bird that lives inside me…
The bird sings for joy…
Her voice falls in a smooth and curving arc…
Only to ascend to heaven again.

She is a miracle of grace…
A free, wild, spirit given…
Full of autumn-like colors…
When everything explodes into color.

She reminds me of how blessed I am…
Helps me create thoughts that make me smile…
Like a sheet cake big enough for me to sleep on…
That somehow disappears by morning.

She makes me stretch even longer…
Brings new tides each day…
Some of the waters are compassion…
Some of the waters love.

Funny, how I just noticed her…
Has she been inside me all along?
Today, she tells me I only belong to the good things…
And that, is all I need to know.

I love you,

Annie

I read the letter twice…
What wonderful handwritten text…
My thoughts swirling and whirling…
Standing like a child beneath the open sky.

Drowned with emotion…
In numb disbelief…
Taking me within myself…
Like the first time I found summer.

It was if I was handed a flower…
It’s voice, in a nice, quiet way…
My paws shake, like trembling grass…
What a beautiful way to experience grace.

The letter leaves me with an open question…
Where else may this path lead?
It hints, like a slow, smooth dance…
I think I may know the answer…
To a place where beauty holds all the sway.

I read the letter twice…
Such a wild, incomprehensible gesture…
Thank you for thinking of me…
I’ll save it somewhere special where I can read it many times more.

Letters and notes are so important.

I love you,

Annie