Author: Jeff Shapiro

For me, a garden is a doll scape…
Able to hold the light…
Drinking in the low fingers of fog…
With the growth swirling in the backdrop.

Constructed entirely by my maker…
Always recalibrating…
An argument cultivating into reason…
Never talking out of school.

Splotches of radiant color…
The brown, green against the yellow, blue…
Like when life first walked upon this land…
A church that everyone wants to join.

How do I know these things?
Because I always keep myself available (Lao…)
It was the same for pups in ancient times…
It is the same for pups now.

You understand, right, that You are this garden?
You have seen all these things so many times…
Each day you can tend it all over again…
And share your harvest with the rest of the world (there are others that are having a bad year.)

I love you,

Annie

Today, my mama (aka butler) is saying a final goodbye to her mama…
They are putting her ashes in the ground…
She was a very special grandma to me…
So today, I’m also saying goodbye.

In the cemetery, even the grass feels holy…
Holding so many painful emotions…
But though I hurt, I know she’s ok…
She has just moved on from one meaning to another.

I used to make her smile…
Sitting on her lap, and keeping her warm…
She would laugh at the ridiculous outfits my butler put on me…
And flick my ears like she was flicking off lint (I really didn’t like that).

When I was with her, I was never afraid…
Fear would break up in little pieces and float away…
Her fingers were like the fingers on the Buddha’s hand…
Stroking in virtue, pulling away vice.

Now she lives among the greens, the browns and absurd blues…
Carrying fistfuls of speckled light in her angel hands…
Sometimes still giving me a nasty eye…
When I get too near the cupboard.

I’ll miss you Grandma,

Annie

I believe completely in miracles…
They are hanging on every breeze…
Flowing through all things…
Perfecting the beautiful, like you and me.

That’s why it feels like I’ve been talking to you forever…
Maybe even before the universe was born…
It’s a part of us that is deep, deep inside…
When it surfaces, I call it the angel mode.

Here, there is a different bouquet for every day…
And best of all, we get to pick the flowers…
For me, I like tulips…
Why, because they make my butler smile.

But we need to stay below the distractions (easier for me than you…)
That haunting darkness we bring on ourselves…
Stop tripping up over the smallest things…
And stop chasing the dragon and breathing its fire (slang for bad habits.)

Come here, a little closer. I have something to whisper to you…
Life has need of you…
This world is one big ballroom…
And it’s looking for a partner to dance.

I love you,

Annie

I am a funny creature…
I can’t wipe my own nose (though I can help you wipe yours…)
I have no tip toes…
And I believe I could live on chocolate cake.

I’m forever climbing a staircase of air…
Just to see what’s on top…
All I’ve found so far is heaven and here…
And frankly, they look kind of the same.

I think that everything has been put in my power…
A gift that only requires a wag of my tail and an open heart…
I can’t even imagine all the gifts that have been given to you…
After all, you can wipe your own nose.

So, never, never, never, dim your own light…
Through worry, anxious thoughts and fear…
You are being watched over by the keeper of a million days and nights (maybe more…)
I suggest you be on the lookout for Her.

So now you know…
Life is an endless variety of gifts and love…
You ask, “How much farther do we have to go to get there?”
Take a deep breath and look around, you’ve been here for a while.

I love you,

Annie

I am just a spectator in this world…
And interpret my days with my poems…
This world is wider than my field of view…
Deeper than my comprehension.

I don’t have much power here…
After all, I’m just a little pup…
But I know everything is right here before me…
And I don’t have to take a long journey to find it.

Sometimes I find myself very deep in the garbage (yum and ouch…)
I move through it like an inchworm…
I really want to ask my butler to leave it out more often…
But you can’t ask a butler a question like that.

So, what new thing do I see each day?
Oh my, there are thousands of things going on each moment…
Plays, concerts, operas, sports and dance…
When the clouds pass the curtain is up.

I accept this world completely…
It was here long before I was…
And it’s so generous that She has given us solemn permission…
To enjoy every aspect of Her spectacle.

I love you,

Annie

I have super-powers, do you?
I have a reason for sharing this with you
Because I want to let the genie out of the bottle
And never let him back inside
 
These powers are unfathomable
Just outside all comprehension
When you see me all you can describe is my appearance
But imagine, there is an entire universe inside
 
My powers make me one of the sweetest creatures in this world
A creature of mildness
As fluid as melting ice
And from every angle, showing the perfect view
 
Let’s go! Let’s discover your super-powers
We must search like an 8-month-old crawling into a new day of adventure
Start with a fairy-tale
And keep everything in easy-listening words
 
There they are, do you see them? They are like a mountain hiding beneath the fog
At the base there is strength, then purposefulness, then hope and faith
On your summit I can see endless views of love and compassion
Ha! I knew they were in there
 
Now, go show the world!
 
I love you,
 
Annie

Today I think I’ll be the color purple …
Not green or yellow or red …
Why purple?
Because it feels like a purple kind of day.
 
I’ll flow like a long purple stroke on an endless canvas …
Without any beginning or end …
You may ask, if I have no beginning where did I come from?
From the master painter’s pallet and brush, of course …
 
I have no idea where this purple thing might take me …
It is only one color in this multi-colored world …
I know that I’m being woven into some eternal tapestry …
And each day I’m just a little more complete
 
Maybe it will lead me to my butler’s ice cream face …
To me, she tastes like blackberries …
It is all something of some magical rhythm …
I’m hoping that the love in our eyes will catch.
 
So, are you with me?
Today what color do you want to be? (You can be anything but blue.)
Believe me, it will be like coming home to meet a long-parted friend …
Sort of a special surprise.
 
I love you,
 
Annie

I’m happy that I can’t climb a real ladder …
Isn’t that what humans constantly do?
I don’t know what is at the top …
But, by the lack of happiness in this world, I think there is nothing but hot air.
 
Can I talk to you for a second (You know pup to person?)
What I want to say will be either brilliant or rubbish (rubbish can be very tasty … )
You can be the judge …
For me, a ladder is the opposite of peace and tranquility.
 
My four paws are always on the ground (unless I’m on my butler’s lap or on a step stool … )
I see the whole world as myself …
I love the whole world as myself …
And my only measure of success is how well I’m doing in these two things.
 
Ambition or envy steal your greatest gift …
This gift was given to you when you were born and is always within you …
It is something different for every pup (and I’m guessing humans alike … )
Come on! You must have encountered your gift along your way.
 
Whew! I said it … what a mixture of gratitude and relief …
Now, if you think this is true here’s what you need to do (If rubbish, it’s okay to take a bite … )
Break away from that eternal repetition happening in your brain …
Come down from the ladder …
 
And come back home.
 
I love you,
 
Annie

Today my little mind is as open as the sky …
Filled with smiles, cheerfulness and contentment …
I’m living in such a comfortable vibe …
Please, please, don’t poop on my golden moment.
 
Maybe I’ll venture into that thicket of truth …
Studying what a pup should be studying …
Be taught by an old oak tree (my teacher of everything genius) …
Stop thinking that trees can’t speak!
 
It is all yours and mine …
Just let the morning words swing like a child at a playground …
Live like you are in that dream …
And watch the magic happen in your mind’s eye.
 
What’s that?
Your mind is full of worry, anxiety and regret?
Don’t you know that when you fixate on any of these things …
The second hand of your life stops moving.
 
Put away all these amateur theatrics …
Don’t be a thundering dunderhead (you’re a person not a Boxer!)
There is a real stage just outside your door …
Just let your mind be open like the sky (like me).
 
I love you,
 
Annie

This morning, I came to a stark realization …
Everyone on this planet talks down to me (except maybe, Boo Boo the chihuahua … )
They bend over, say I’m cute, pat my little head and mock my little legs …
But to me it’s a small matter (no pun intended.)
 
I know that I have no control of the wind (or my size … )
I don’t control what makes my little heart, beat …
I’m just bobbing along in an endless sea …
Just the same as the greatest Great Dane in California (Hey, there goes one now).
 
My size doesn’t affect the love that I can give you ….
But, worrying about it, might …
Following what other’s think is like depending on the wind …
It will make some days good, and other days not fit for sailing.
 
Aren’t we all just clay being tempered into different size pots?
So, what difference if I’m tall or short?
I’m still free to mingle with my friends …
And to say boo to my favorite goose.
 
It’s okay … You can talk down to me because that’s where I dwell …
I’ll always be down here dragging my favorite blanket behind me …
Just hoping and praying …
That I can snuggle next to you just a little bit longer.
 
I love you,
 
Annie