Broken Wide Open

As soon as we laid eyes on you
 Our hearts rushed in, unprotected,
 Held captive by you
 With your bright, smiling eyes.

Even with your hair grown long
 Like a Highland cow
 Those brown, trusting eyes,
 “They’re under there somewhere,” 
Reflected love.
 Unconditional love.

We fed you, watched you grow,
 Cheered your every milestone,
 Forgave your every transgression, (Even that time you unraveled
 the berber carpet in the bedroom.) 
 We loved you with wild abandon,
 Ignoring the certainty
 that some day we’d lose you.

And now you have gone.
 And our unprotected hearts
 have shattered, quite completely. Broken wide open with the sudden loss of you. 
 “Thank you” is all we can say. Thank you for being our very sweet pup.
 Stealer of hearts. Such a good dog. 
 Hearts will heal, eventually.
 But they will be forever reconfigured
 By loving you.