Oh gentle night

With gentle sighs and clink of tags
the dogs remind me
that I am safe
in the night
behind a wall of woof

I just became aware that they are making a movie based on Abigail Thomas's memoir "A Three Dog Life." Another poet named Vicki Hearne and her book "Adam's Task: Calling Animals By Name" came to embody the decade of my 20s. Now Abigail's book, read while I was recovering from my pelvic floor reconstruction in 2009 has become a kind of embodiment of my 40s. My husband is quite alive and functional, never fear. But Abigail's account of rebuilding her life after her husband's accident resonated with me as I was struggling with chronic illness and working to recover my life after repeated surgeries.

For me, there is a kind of simplicity in living life with in the short time frame of a dog's life. It effects everything about my life. How I travel, who has keys to my house, how I vacation and what I do for a living are all colored by my furry companions.

I know this is not the life many would choose. But that is okay by me.

I am myself, completed by dogs.

This is my life. A life with dogs. A three dog life.