A small, bright life once pranced about my hand,
A surge of joy that filled each silent room;
With darting eyes that seemed to understand,
He chased away the darkness and the gloom.
With steps so light that left their mark so deep,
Each move a grace upon my heart’s constraint
And now the silence where he used to leap
Falls mute, the echo of a tender pain.
Too sudden the hour that stole his signal health,
No warning given, no farewell to say;
One moment warm with life, the next was death
A spark inchoate with no pause of play.
Yet still you live where memory holds loose,
A glance too fierce for time or death to pass.
A man is but once wired of cold fire
His life a bleat of saddest desire
Neil Kurtzman
Comments and reviews of opera, music, and medicine
De Minimis
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th March 2026
Medicine and Opera is a blog by Neil Kurtzman MD about just that, medicine and opera. Subscribe
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If the beautiful pup in the photo was yours, I feel for you and also have what looks to be a twin, a five-year-old 7.5 lbs Maltese Poodle mixed breed. As my late wife grew progressively more homebound after a failed hip replacement, our daughters and granddaughter purchased ours from a Cuban breeder in Miami, who named her “Chuchi.” She was a great companion and never left my wife’s side. Since her passing this January, our “baby” never leaves my side. Although I am a professional writer according to Wikipedia, I have never been able to write fiction and am absolutely hopeless writing verses. Your poem has a touch of Longfellow, which I envy!
The dog in the photo was with us for almost 11 years. His name wa Pippo, a Havanese, named after you know who. He was a wonderful fellow whom we greatly miss.