INTRO
SNAPSHOT
CALLING OWLS
TO OUR SONS, 1982
THE ABORTION PALACE
MY SHIP
WAITING ON LARAMIE CREEK
IMPATIENS CAPENSIS
THE ADVANTAGE OF INTELLIGENCE
FROM THE TALE OF PETER MINK
THE ODYSSEY OF GLOOMY GUS
THE HUMAN CONDITION IS NOT
TED
OLD MAN TO HIMSELF
OLD DOMINION
AFTER YOU LANGLADE
SPRING PEEPERS
THE BRANDY LINE (ABOUT A FAVORITE GOAT)
GROWING UP, TWO AMERICAS
WHEN I WAS FIFTEEN
A TRUE DOCTOR
ANNIVERSARY 1984
HILLS
LITTLE RIVER
THE LESSON
TREES OF NEW JERSEY
BEYOND NORTH MOUNTAIN
OLD RIDER
MAKE REVOLUTION
MUSIC AT THE JACKSON
MEMORY
TO BETTY, 1982
DREAM OF CHARLES DE LANGLADE
CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN
THE SCRAPER
YOU CALL ME FOLLY MILLS
BY WINNEBAGO'S SHORE
ALONG 693
I DIDN'T KNOW YOU THEN
©Poems of R.F.Mueller- Other Times, Other Thoughts

DEATH OF WILBUR
(ON MY BIRTHDAY!)
R.F. Mueller


Old friend, you saw the summer's last leaf fall
there in the walnut grove along the hill,
by that spot we'd passed so many times
on our way to seasonal chores
of cutting wood or planting corn.
One time, I remember, you waited for me
and stretched your legs in the sultry morning's shade
while I put in the brace for the new fence.
Neither of us could have guessed you'd seek out
that rockrimmed patch of grass again,
urgently, as if through your whole life you ran,
casting your last strength away,
to reach that portal of dog heaven
on that bright November day.

 

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Wilbur was a city dog, a Labrador, who found his element among the rocky, wooded hills and an ever-active, rushing stream of our new home. He loved to eat apples, carrots and hard cabbage hearts, and he never tired of children, who he would curl up with in the cramped back of our VW Bug for the long rides to and from Maryland, just after we bought the farm. An amusing incident that testified to his fondness for these rides was the anger and impatience he showed toward several local dog acquaintances, who wanted to play with him, just as we were leaving for our city home!