Author: Jeff Shapiro

My secret is observation…
Making no sound, I can see every detail…
My day involves thousands of little peeks…
That is how I know everything special about you.

There is really no downside…
Some days I see that I am the same as a tree…
Others I see that someone has given me socks and mittens…
And still others, that my breath is curiously similar to the wind.

I see clearly what is behind every smile and worry line on your face…
Thousands and thousands of happy times and also the heartbreak…
I often wonder why you are so focused on wrinkles and growing old?
Haven’t you realized that you are simply melting into forever?

So, in a typical day…

I never really know where I am going, but I’m always on my way…
I don’t now anything because I’m merely a dude (or dudette if you prefer…)
I go swaying about with my slinky like body…
Staying chill with my care free brain.

So, why do you listen to chatter of the doomed?
It is there that are the harnesses and chains…
Instead, listen to the birds in the day and the songs of the night…
Stop and observe…
There is so much beauty inside you and all around you.

Now you have my secret.

I love you,

Annie

Of course, I have a personal pianist…
She is playing all the time…
Her fingers move with the grace of a dancer…
Her melodies bringing faith, hope and love.

She weaves me a story with her silken hands…
Tells me to unlock every window and every door…
She always plays tribute to the wildness…
Because for me, the wildness is finer than the tame.

She uses the keys to open the skies…
To help me understand the power of the universe…
Speaking directly to the wanderer within me…
That part that says I can be so much more.

I always wonder why she chooses to play for me…
Me, being the most peculiar of creatures…
Doesn’t she see that my size is extra, extra, super long…
And I can never find a pair of pajamas that fits.

Can I ask you a question?
Do you have a personal pianist?
She is just the echoes of your life to come…
With songs written only for you.

I love you,

Annie

I come to you with the fragrance of the earth…
Deep and warm and bubbly…
Having the instincts of immortal life…
Knowing nothing but the truth.

How can something like this earth be so old and yet so innocent?
Making me beds of thistle down…
Not worrying about a satisfactory conclusion…
Never letting the rains, empty her skies.

Her days move forward like the gears of a clock…
Lingering lovingly…
Each evening, she hosts a complete stranger dinner party…
Sure, you are invited, dress code is casual or nothing at all.

Her winds blow from nowhere…
Telling us that She is always a mast and never an anchor…
Welcoming us to lift our sails and explore…
Doesn’t everyone need a push?

Homecoming is in the twilight…
With Her sumptuous reds and golds…
Bringing your heart back to the heavens…
And the glorious day is done.
I love you,

Annie

I’m thinking that my desires are the root of most of my problems…
They feed this insatiable hunger inside…
They are a voice in my head everyday and every night that says more, more, more!
And never bring lasting peace, joy or happiness.

When I lay desire aside, there is an open doorway…
Inside are my family and friends…
My soft cushy bed and blanket…
A squeaky toy named badger…
It’s starting to sound a little bit like home.

So, what is important to you?
Let’s weigh your gold and your silver…
Are you letting desire make you focus on the wrong things?
Everyday our wealth needs to be sorted and counted…
Because it is infinitely blended with family, friends and hope.

Even without desire…

We will still have sorrow…
We will still have joy…
But did you know that sorrow and joy are two sides of the same coin?
Because if we never had sorrow, we would never have joy.

Material wealth is just a made-up slogan…
A big stinky pile of hullabaloo…
It is time to be who we are supposed to be and remember an eternal truth…
That home is just another term for heaven.

I love you,

Annie

In the Springtime, I sow my seeds with tenderness…
I’m careful not to interrupt the wind singing sweetly to all things…
I listen to the children hailing the morning with delight…
I know them as heaven’s angels.

I blow into the seeds with a breath from my soul…
I never forget to tell them my name…
I pray their roots will be tied together with threads from my heart…
My life has meaning, so everything I touch has meaning too.

Now it’s your turn….

Forget about all that anxiety…
The world is not falling apart…
It may seem like it’s flaking like the crust of an apple pie…
But there is still so much sweetness in it’s middle (yum!!!)

Find your own shape in the worries of this day…
Like a sculpture finding her face in the marble…
Smooth it and clean it and then strike it hard…
And with patience behold how beautiful this day can be.

Think of roses and gardens and things that you love…
There are always places that will make you smile…
Have I forgotten to tell you that we are all in this troubled world together…
Hang on to me, I promise you, these troubles will soon pass.

I love you,

Annie

I have seen your face when the sun is shining…
I have seen your face when the dark clouds come…
I have seen your face when your doors swing wide open…
I have seen your face when your windows turn into walls.

Yes, each face is you…
The warm silvery light…
The cold bluish darkness…
That little smile you may not even know that you have.

That’s the job of a pup to be aware of these things…
To know when to be next to you and soak away your tears…
To know how to act when your world blows away…
To be here for you to squeeze as hard as you need.

To me, you are like a vineyard going through each season…
The planting, the pruning, the hot and the cold…
The new year’s buds blossoming in your heart…
And the song on your lips as the vines turn to gold.

Okay now that you know that I know you…
Let’s just sit here together on the banks of the river…
Listen to the still quiet voices of the flowers all around…
And watch the troubles of this world float away.

I love you,

Annie

Come on! Let’s go to a place called, “Feather Town…”
There, we can blink the stars down from the sky…
Or if the stars are unwilling, we can meet them half-way…
It’s simple, we’ll cover ourselves with feathers and fly.

Stop mulling and fussing…
It is time to concentrate on what you have been freely given…
Don’t you want to spend a night among the stars?
And let them teach you to twinkle.

I know, that so much of your life has been winter…
Like an unmatched table and chairs…
But here in feather town it is so much different…
There are no such words as “Yikes,” or “Ouch,” or “Help!”

Yep, we are always reaping…
There are no fierce beasts or strange creatures…
You can hop off the circus train of your life…
And get fitted for wings.

The currents that will lift you are the fragrances of this earth…
The winds that will push, are from our free-hearted mother…
Grab a brush and easel, because each night we repaint the sky…
So, everyone can enjoy the new picture in the light of dawn.

I love you,

Annie

Today, I am floating away in a big bunch of bubbles…
Like an artist working toward beauty, higher and higher, layer upon layer…
Up here is heaven and the dwelling place of angels…
Where new landscapes are created a moment at a time.

Up above, we are all equal…
Drinking from the same ocean of life…
Yes, we have all been bitten by the same venomous snake…
And know of frost and fire and floods…
But look at what we have overcome!

Above the clouds is my favorite roosting place…
The magic is here 24 hours a day…
It is so much quieter inside the heart of God…
Where each heartbeat is in perfect balance.

The heavens teach me that it is so much better to give before being asked…
That the desires to cling tightly are an enemy and not a friend…
That someday it will all be given away anyway…
So, why not give it away now?

There are so many lessons I have learned floating in my bubble…

Like, when I love there is no such thing as a bad recipe…
And that love knows nothing of locked doors and empty hallways…
And If you think that fences are keeping you away from life…
Be like me, squeeze through, crawl under, or simply get in a bubble and float away!

I love you,

Annie

I am always in my pajamas and slippers…
Always in rescue mode…
I know exactly the hour that the red roses bloom…
And come home wet and muddy from the sprinklers (my pajamas are 100% washable!)

Each morning, I pretend I’m at the circus…
With the smell of caramel and cotton candy…
I know those smells so well…
That sometimes I wish they would dip my whole body in it.

I cannot make the morning sunshine, but I can put myself in its path…
It is for this that I constantly search…
So, it will lead me to the gardens of butterflies…
And always keep me on the lighter side of things.

When I’m anxious, my world spins too fast…
My thoughts push me towards the days of tomorrow…
In those moments I must sit on the seashore…
And let my heart keep time with the waves…

I always try to get along with the other pups in my neighborhood…
Don’t we all eat bread from the same trash bin?
I have found that when I give a little piece to other pups, I am truly giving…
Yep, for me, life is one big pajama party.

I love you,

Annie

I am now at the age of not quite 15…
It took me to the age of 13 ¼ to realize that life is not to be watched, it is to be explored…
It is kind of like an apple dipped in caramel…
And each day I need to take a big bite (yum!)

I discovered at 14 that my heart has wings…
And what I hear in the wild is the beating on nature’s heart…
That I am never outside the presence of God…
Because the spirit of the universe will always be inside me.

When I see this way, I see truly…
Everything else becomes just a run-on sentence…
It is so impossible; I can’t describe it…
But I can tell you for sure that magic goes on forever.

Now, I listen to the storm from under the covers (I’m deathly afraid of thunder!)
Booming like a big bass drum in the night…
Lightning spewing from the downy clouds…
The wings of heaven safely between us.

So, being not quite 15, I’ve become quite wise…
I have learned though even if I find that there is nothing in this world that I can never keep forever…
And that if I have the choice of doing good or bad or something in-between
I always go with my gut and I…
Grab the bacon and run!

I love you,

Annie