Bijou
September 15, 1994 - November 3, 2011
Sire: All Star's Rambo
Dam: Lucy At All Star
Derivation of Name: From the French,
meaning a small, dainty, exquisite jewel;
something infinitely special, precious,
and delicately beautiful.
AKC Registration #TN160180/01
January 16, 1995
With much sadness, I write this morning that my dear little Yorkshire Terrier, Bijou, died on Thursday evening. She was seventeen and to her last moment the "personification" of her name. Her passing was very sudden and a great blessing to have happened quickly and peacefully at home and in my arms. Bijou was the last of my Yorkies. I miss her terribly.
There's an Irving Townsend quotation that touches me deeply and expresses what I believe many pet lovers feel about the "little creatures" with whom we share our lives and our love. In memory of Bijou, and in memory of pets you've loved, I offer the quotation as the prompt for this week's poem. (If you write or have written poems for beloved pets, please feel free to post them.)
“We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own
live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only certain immortality,
never fully understanding the necessary plan.”
– Irving Townsend from “The Once Again Prince”
Oh, Adele, I'm so very sorry. I know how hard it is to lose a beloved pet and I send you my sincerest condolences.
ReplyDeleteYour little Bijou was very beautiful. Take comfort in believing that you and she will be together again someday. And you will, I believe that with my whole heart and soul.
Thank you for the Townsend quote.
With my sincerest sympathies,
Jamie
Jamie, thank you so much! Your kind words and support mean a lot to me.
ReplyDeleteA.
Oh, so sorry to hear this. I didn't realize that you had more than one dog. Is this the one in your author pic?
ReplyDeleteAt Adele's request, poem written for ChayaCairn Maideleh Darling, 1997-2007:
ReplyDeleteIF YOU ONLY KNEW
for Maideleh, who did the wudgie wudgie dance
You greet us in the anteroom,
tail wagging, rear swaying,
not knowing that in an hour
you’d be no more, you’d leave.
Hearing our secret song,
you curl in my arms,
enveloped in my love,
accepting the last belly scratch.
Your gaze meets mine,
your eyes clear, pink tongue
reaching out, ah,
kiss kiss nip nip.
You’re warm, I feel
your heartbeat. Can you
feel my own heart’s
pounding rhythm, my fear?
Do you remember when I eased
you from your mother’s body,
tore open your sac, released your
wriggling self to breathe first air?
Will you miss the chipmunk
taunts from under the sandbox?
Will you know as they take your
breath away that they take ours?
Can you grasp our need to
place you in another world
where you’ll hurt no more
while we ache and grieve?
Oh, sweet girl, if you only knew
what we can’t explain,
did you feel our pain
as yours seeped away?
If you only knew how
your short life sparked ours,
how we found peace as you nestled
near our heads while we slept.
Thanks, Diane -- Bijou was the last of my Yorkies. She was beautiful with a beautiful spirit. I miss her terribly.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Gail! Thank you so much for sharing your poem with us!
ReplyDeleteAdele, I am so sorry to read this. I am so sorry you have to feel the pain of Bijou's passing. My love and prayers are with you both...
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear Donna, for your love and for your prayers. I know you went through this not too long ago with your Jake. We were blessed to have them and, although the immediate grief is profound, I believe we will be with them again someday. Grateful love to you ...
ReplyDeleteI knew Bijou and her gentleness and love will stay with me always.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bob. Bijou loved you and I'm deeply grateful for everything you did for her. She was so very special.
ReplyDeleteDear Adele,
ReplyDeleteI know how devastating the loss of a beloved pet can be having lost my own dear Finn (an Irish Wolf Hound) earlier this year. I send you my heartfelt condolences and my sincerest hope that you will find peace in cherished memories of your sweet Bijou. (She looks so beautiful in the picture!)
Sincerely,
Máire Ó Cathail (Ireland)
Thank you, Maire, for your lovely words and for your condolences. I'm so sorry for your loss and send you my very best wishes for the comfort of beautiful memories.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear of the passing of little Bijou. (Such a cutie, judging by her portrait.)
ReplyDeleteDear Violet,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your message. Yes, she was a true cutie!
Adele, I am so sorry for your loved dog.
ReplyDeleteThis Mark Strand poem for little Bijou:
I, the dog they call Spot, was about to sing. Autumn
Had come, the walks were freckled with leaves, and a tarnished
Moonlit emptiness crept over the valley floor.
I wanted to climb the poets' hill before the winter settled in;
I wanted praise the soul. My neighbor told me
Not to waste my time. Already the frost had deepened
And the north wind, trailing the whip of its own scream,
Pressed against the house, "A dog's sublimity is never news,"
He said, "what's another poet in the end?"
And I stood in the midnight valley, watching the great starfields
Flash and flower in the wished-for reaches of heaven.
That's when I, the dog they call Spot, began to sing.
Dear Jago,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your condolences and for the Mark Strand poem (absolutely beautiful).