For Jeff

If I were my dog I would think of death 
The same way I think of listening and following commands
That is to say, not at all

If I were my dog I would run and yip with joy while I slept
Unfettered by the weight of worries and fear

If I were my dog I would be just as excited for the next time
As I was for the first and the last

If I were my dog I would stop to smell
Everything

If I were my dog I would greet everyone I passed 
As though they were the most important person I’d met that day
Because they were

If I were my dog I would love like it was the one thing I was created to do
Because it was