pack rules

it was you
who taught us the importance
of keeping the pack together

you who would wait at the front windows
when it was time for us to get home from work
you who would leave me once i was settled
to go wait at the window again
for melissa to arrive

when your senses
started to fail you
you would leave the room
with both of us in it
to go look for us
in all of the other rooms of the house
sometimes camping out
outside the master bathroom
if the door was closed
thinking melissa was still in there
and waiting patiently
until we realized where you had gone
and got up to find you
and bring you back

and now that you are gone
somehow all your searching for us
in those last few weeks
when we were right there
makes a perfect inverted sense
as we continue to look for you

expecting you to come running up to us
as we open the door into the house from the garage

turning around in the kitchen
holding out an almost empty casserole dish
that needs your attention

and waiting to hear the click of your toenails
coming down the hallway
every night
as we get ready for bed.