[the Writing of Kuypers]    [JanetKuypers.com]    [Bio]    [Poems]    [Prose]


losing my best friend.

(written with D.J.)

our yard was a small size
since we lived in a Detroit suburb.
That’s why Doc got sent away
to a place I never saw
with a faceless man I never knew

I’ve never been able to face death;
no one ever wanted to talk about it.
Where were they taking him?
I didn’t want him to go,
I loved him,
and I knew he loved me too.
He loved me the most.

My father thought it was best,
and I suppose financially
it might have been,
but at what point is it
that you become an adult,
refer to love as a childhood thing
and value money
over a child’s heart

I was playing at my neighbor’s
when I went to the fence
and saw the man pulling the van
out of my driveway,
with my dog.
and Doc was yelping.
And I didn’t even
get to say good-bye.

That was my dog.
and that was my childhood.


Copyright Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.