Running with Chum
I rowed a boat into a lake, to clear my head from feeling addled.
I forgot my big brown dog Chum, but after me he paddled.
A loyal shadow in the water, but my eyes just looked ahead
Chum’s breath was giving out, but his spirit had not fled.
Fortunately, my father launched a boat from the beach.
Like a hero in a story, his strong arms did reach.
Chum scrambled into his boat, a lovable dripping mess.
Dad gave Chum a hug, later I gave Chum a caress
In winter Chum would also run with me
I thought he was lucky, I thought he was free.
Better off than being inside a house all day
like so many sad pets across the USA.
We ran with the track team of Jackson High
As he ran, he wheezed, I never asked why.
We ran all alone, up the mountain of Bear.
We ran like a two-man pack, in the clear dry air.
One hot summer day, he collapsed in the sun.
Looked so bad, fear gripped me, I felt my heart run.
I doused him with water, inside and out.
Like a desperate rain, trying to end a drought.
They tell me now that this was my final blow
The wrong thing to do, but of course I didn’t know.
I drove to the vet too fast, risking others on the road.
The bright summer day seemed black, dark clouds a heavy load.
The vet took one look and told me Chum was dead.
No more memories of me, eternal nothingness instead
I had run Chum to death for a misguided ideal.
The rest of my life, this wound will not heal.
I had to tell my dad, and my brothers too
Dad was bitter, but there was nothing left to do.
Wasn't that I was cruel, or that I'm not nice.
Life’s lessons hurt the most when others pay the price.
I tried to learn life’s rules, to ask what can go wrong.
To pour cold water on manic ideals, to be wise and strong
But many times, in later years, a victim took the fall.
If you can't think ahead, you become, a human wrecking ball.
Copyright ©
Gideon Oknin
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