Phileos
Written by Pam on January 4, 2015
Starting a new year, we all look for a resolution of sort – I never try to have a resolution because I try not to promise myself something that might not come to fruition. So I try and make stronger some of the beautiful things I have had something to do in its creation. This year, I want my friendships, with both humans and canines, to be stronger.
When you look up the word, friendship, there are so many words that make up this simple act of enjoying and loving those near to you. Phileos is the word that always comes to mind, it’s the way my father lived his life and I will always live mine – helping those less fortunate, enjoying time with those who master that lasting sense of humor, and always participating in those heartfelt moments.
“Stronger” when it comes to my canine camaraderie, will lean toward more obedience training, conformation + handling training and always – always living in harmony with my treasured dogs~!
Below are a few friendship poems and a beautiful heartfelt poem that I want to dedicate to my dad – a man that I have and always will admire for his free spirit, his true love of life and devotion to all his many friends. Enjoy, Pam
The Arrow and the Song
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1807-1882
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
Love and Friendship by Emily Brontë
1818-1848
Friendship like the holly-tree
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most constantly?
The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who will call the wild-briar fair?
Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now
And deck thee with the holly’s sheen,
That when December blights thy brow
He may still leave thy garland green.
Canis Major by Robert Frost
The great Overdog
That heavenly beast
With a star in one eye
Gives a leap in the east.
He dances upright
All the way to the west
And never once drops
On his forefeet to rest.
I’m a poor underdog,
But to-night I will bark
With the great Overdog
That romps through the dark.
My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke
1908 – 1963
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother’s countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.