I Wish I'd Written This

Dog Bones
By Jim Cole

Cheeba lays at my feet

a muffled barking in his sleep

his legs are twitching
and i wonder what he is chasing

is it a memory ?
or is he on a shamanic journey ?

i am no dog whisperer
but he knows whatever i am thinking

and somehow responds
before i say or do anything

some people have this instinct
an empathic intuitive distinctive

paranormal gift of knowing
i have it when i am used for healing

sometimes i think Cheeba
is a gift to me for my own healing

he knows what i am dealing with
and i affectionately call him Buddha dog

we often put our foreheads together
and we watch as we silently meditate

he doesn’t come when i call
but he finds me whenever i am lost in

deep thought and not paying
him with enough attention from within

without him i would be alone

spirit of my spirit and bone of my bone

Yes, you are getting two poems this time — the three-line poem to Cheeba with the photo, haiga-like, and the longer piece which echoes and elaborates on it. 

I have known Jim Cole for perhaps nine years now, first on MySpace then on facebook. He styles himself The Love Poet, and he can certainly lay claim to that title, as his poetry is written with the express purpose of spreading Love in the world.  

Here is what he said about himself when I asked him for biographical notes for this article:

'An old world poet who is a modern mystic, poet Jim Cole writes to remind us of our Oneness of consciousness in an emerging compassionate climate of change. Poetry became his voice in the 1960s and continues today as he admits he is a survivor of four suicide attempts beginning at age 7 and ending at his awakening at age 40. He shares his daily experiences of pain as a remembrance of release from the past and an enduring hope for the present.'

Having been reading him for years, I observed that he seemed to be in deep depression when I began seeing his writing, and that after some time he appeared to turn a corner and enter into the enjoyment of life again. This was apparent not only in the verses but also from his profile photos, in which his eyes stopped looking sad. The change in his energy, in both ways, was quite marked — and it attests to the power of his chosen practice of using poetry in the service of Love. I must add that his poems reveal that he also uses prayer.

He has no pretensions to being a 'literary' poet. He prefers simplicity and truth. 

(I think you know I'm a grammar Nazi. I did ask him if I could change 'lays' in the above poem to 'lies'. He politely declined, as he chose it for vibrational reasons. How could I argue? Spiritual / energetic truth of course prevails, and is the foundation of poetry.)

Sometimes I find his work a tad too sentimental for my taste, but many love and cherish it, and there is no doubting his authenticity. And sometimes — often! — the loving heart and the poetic language come together to create something truly beautiful, as in this tribute to his beloved old dog.

Here is a masterly haiku I also wish I'd written:

life explodes

leaves spring from trees

buds go bloom !

I'm giving you extra today, as Jim hasn't had a book published and the only place you can find his poetry online is at his facebook profile. 

I'm sad to report that his friend Cheeba crossed over on March 18 this year. Many of us know what it means to lose such a special being, and will feel sympathetic to Jim in his loss. Yet it is cathartic to read about such a faithful 'guardian friend' and we are richer for meeting Cheeba in these loving words.


Poems and photos used in ‘I Wish I’d Written This’ remain the property of the copyright holders (usually their authors).