Forged by bicycle rides and ice cream sprinkles, We swore we would be friends until our skin wrinkles.
Your life path would stray from mine, mine from yours, No longer together as both. Years would pass without a call, But still we held onto our childhood oath.
***
The patter of paws trailed behind me Enticed by kibble and walks “she” became “we.”
Even when I was the one to put her down, She still nuzzled never whimpering a sound.
***
The whispered promise between us, Forged the night we met.
No contract, no handshake, Just two lovers gazing as the sun set.
Would fidelity to one another remain, should our love ever wane.
For the trust wrought from what love brings Also comes attached with strings.
***
Cradling my baby whose eyes first looked upon mine, An unbreakable compact that I would be his lifeline.
My child would one day seek the world instead of me To be true I would have to set him free.
Should he one day shun me He would still have my loyalty.
***
Her feet strike the wood floor matching my gait.
I can’t see her but I know she is there as I often hear her talking with ghosts of people we both held dear.
She walks alongside me to my coffee shop keeping me company at the place where we once knew everyone, but now no more.
My children who used to cling to her and thought she was their hero look around her beyond her and still don’t see her.
She spends most of her time with me, alone.
She is my ghost shuffling through my empty hallways.