A Faithful Shepherd Poem by Juan Olivarez

He was a simple man,
That stayed to himself.
Not much of a drinker,
Not much of a socializer,
Never raised his voice to anyone.
Never played loud music.

You would see him in his garden,
Caring for the okra, and string beans,
In the early mornings,
When the temperatures were still cool.
In the afternoons,
You would see him,
On his porch rocking away,
Reading from an old and battered book,
That had a flag emblazoned on the front cover.

On his lap was a tabby cat,
And at his feet a little rat terrier mix.
More mongrel than rat terrier.
And they were never far from him.
In spring they were there,
In summer, fall, and winter,
They were there.
His loyal companions always by his side.
Three grand old friends,
Always together,
Through thick or thin.

One day the old man did not appear,
In his garden.
In the evening, the porch was empty.
Later that same evening,
A car from the funeral home,
Came and took the old man away.
I don't know how they found out that he was dead,
I don't even know who called.

I heard that when his son,
Who was the executer of the estate,
Came by to clean the house,
And to put up his for sale signs,
That he found a little tabby cat,
And a little mongrel rat terrier,
Sitting by the old man's bed.
In the kitchen, their food and water bowls,
Untouched,
After almost ten days.
On the night stand by the old man's bed,
Was a battered old book,
With a flag emblazoned on the front cover.
It was a death bed edition of,
'Leaves Of Grass.'
It was opened to the poem,
The Dead Emperor.
I heard the old man's son took the book with him.
At first the dog and the cat wouldn't budge,
From their spot.
It wasn't until the old man's son,
Brought in his three year old daughter,
That the little animals,
Decided that it was time to leave.
And walked out with the old man's grand daughter,
Who took them with her,
To their new home.