Henry

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

“Who is he?” asked the beagle as Henry

stepped out of the car.

Henry, he said. He’s had a hard life

and he’s going to stay with us for awhile.

“Is he nice?” The beagle asked. “He’s kinda

funny looking. I’m cute. He’s simultaneously

handsome and ugly. How is that possible?”

Yes. He’s different. Different can be special.

Good special. Please, be polite and say hello.

“Hello, Henry. That food bowl is mine. And,

that muddy place under the porch is mine too. ”

Henry: I smell cats!

The beagle: (to the man) “He’s easily

distracted, isn’t he?”

Henry thrust himself into the shrubs

and grabbed a stick.

The beagle put her nose to the ground and

started walking the fenceline, “I think he should

go back to that place.”

Give him a chance. We all need a chance. Maybe

you can teach him something. You’ve been loved

all your life. He needs to learn to be loved.

The beagle looked up, raising her nose into the

air, trying to make it seem like she’d just caught

a scent. It was really an idea. She had an idea

about Henry.

Time passed. Henry learned to focus, not quite like

a beagle can focus, but something like that. Henry

learned to be loved. Like the beagle and the man

love each other.

Then the man said, it’s time for Henry to go. He

can have his own person now, someone who can

love just him.

“I want to help,” said the beagle. “I can tell his story.”

“He’s different. Different can be special.”

You can love different.

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

From "Conversations with Mary: Words of Attention and Devotion"

Winner of the Nautilus Book Award silver medal for poetry.

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