Clyde

The Window Watcher
You were the one who waited. Always watching from the chaise for us to come home, eyes lit like a golden sentinel. The snow had fallen that morning, and we walked together like always. Until you paused. Not for a smell or a squirrel, but for something I couldn’t see. You froze… stiff, Starring and Still. And I called you back to me. And you came On April, 29th, you fell. Pauline, the love of my life, and your mom, came to check up on you. The fall wasn’t witnessed but the look on your face said it all. Mom sat with you and you collapsed into her loving embrace. although we didn’t know it yet. we know it shook something. Maybe in your heart. Maybe in your soul Days later, your first cough slipped out of you like a secret. one you’d been holding, just to keep us from worrying. You tried so hard to stay strong. Even as your body betrayed you, your eyes never did. In the end, you didn’t need saving. You just needed to be seen. and we saw you, every part. the tired parts. The tired parts that still wanted to follow, even when your legs didn’t. You died not in panic, but in peace You were, and are, so deeply loved We’ll never walk into a room and not half expect you to be there. Until the next window