The Last 15 Years

A DOG ON HIS MASTER
by Billy Collins

As young as I look,
I am growing older faster than he,
seven to one
is the ratio they tend to say.
Whatever the number,
I will pass him one day
and take the lead
the way I do on our walks in the woods.
And if this ever manages
to cross his mind,
it would be the sweetest
shadow I have ever cast on snow or grass.

In memory of Patsy, who passed away May 8, 2015, age 17 or 18