Luke’s Junkyard Song - Learnings from a Dog

 

This is Simba. He’s the family dog named after the lion cub from Disney’s The Lion King.  This morning I am reading a poem by Mary Oliver about a less fortunate dog, but one who has something to teach all of us:

LUKE’S JUNKYARD SONG 

I was born in a junkyard, 

not even on a bundle of rags 

or the seat of an old wrecked car 

but the dust below. 

But when my eyes opened

I could crawl to the edge and see 

the moving grass and the trees 

and this I began to dream on, 

though the worms were eating me. 

And at night through the twists of metal 

I could see a single star—one, not even two. 

Its light was a thing of wonder, 

and I learned something precious 

that would also be good for you. 

Though the worms kept biting and pinching 

I fell in love with this star. 

I stared at it every night—that light so clear and far.

Listen, a junkyard puppy 

learns quickly how to dream. 

Listen, whatever you see and love—

that’s where you are.

— Dog Songs: by Mary Oliver