It's a Dog's Life

For today's blog I think I'll focus on a slightly different topic....the prevalence of dogs in Chile. They are literally everywhere we look and many of them roam freely down the narrow, dusty streets. Some are young, some old, some are big and others are small, some are well-taken care of and many of them could benefit from a good bath, some are full of energy and some are sadly barely limping along.....frequently during the night we'll hear them fighting in the streets. One day, while we traveling in Concepcion, I counted seeing over 100 dogs. That's a lot of dogs and our hearts go out to them....so I am dedicating this blog to all of the Chilean dogs for a better life and who better than Chilean's favorite poet, Pablo Naruda, to do so.

Ode to a Dog by Pablo Naruda

The dog is asking me a question

and I have no answers.
He dashes through the countryside and asks me
wordlessly,
and his eyes
are two moist question marks, two wet
inquiring flames,
but I do not answer
because I haven’t got the answer.
I have nothing to say.

Dog and man: together we roam
the open countryside.

Leaves shine as
if someone
had kissed them
one by one,
orange trees
rise up from the earth
raising
minute planetariums
in trees that are as rounded
and green as the night,
while we roam together, dog and man
sniffing everything, jostling clover
in the countryside of Chile,
cradled by the bright fingers of September.
The dog makes stops,
chases bees,
leaps over restless water,
listens to far-off
barking,
pees on a rock,
and presents me the tip of his snout
as if it were a gift:
it is the freshness of his love,
his message of love.
And he asks me
with both eyes:
why is it daytime? why does night always fall?
why does the spring bring
nothing
in its basket
for wandering dogs
but useless flowers,
flowers and more flowers?
This is how the dog
asks questions
and I do not reply.