happy birthday Rex

tomorrow is your birthday. we would’ve made you another hat

something silly, light as paper, that you’d have tried to shake off

before curling into my lap, as if to say ‘i’ll allow it’

you suckled on my sleeves, you liked to feel at home

you needed me in a way, that made me softer too

you curled so close, we forgot where you ended and where you began

four years old tomorrow, just three of them ours

three years of kneading your comfort into my chest

like you were stitching yourself in place

it’s been three hundred fifteen days, since we last held you

since we felt that need, that never demanded, only asked

Lenny asks now, in his own funny way

not quite the same, but enough to make us look twice

we think he learned that from you

in the six months you shared, you were always teaching love

without trying

and Fig,

there’s something in the way she tilts her head, a flick of the tail a weight in her stare, that carries your shadow. she was never yours, but somehow she remembers you

you’re not forgotten, that i can promise

not when the new ones mirror your old ways, not when every soft paw-step feels like it could be yours, not when the door still stays open, just a little longer

tomorrow, we’ll say your name aloud, Rex, little love

our missing piece, our hope that still lingers

happy birthday sweet boy

i love you forever