RESCUING OLIVER FROM HEAVEN

RESCUING OLIVER FROM HEAVEN

by matt burns

The boy was sad that his dog Oliver died

He asked his mom where dogs go when they die

His mom told him Oliver was in heaven now

The boy decided he would go and rescue his dog in heaven

The boy asked how he could get there

The mom said by going to Church every Sunday and listening to the priests

The boy went to Church and listened to the priests

After Mass, the boy asked the priest where heaven was

The priest told him high in the sky somewhere

The boy went to his neighbor the pilot and asked if he could fly him to heaven

The pilot laughed and said heaven was inside of him and pointed to his heart

The boy went to the doctor and asked him if he could perform surgery

Open him up

Find heaven

So he could find his dog

The doctor laughed 

The kingdom of heaven is inside you, it’s just a figure of speech, he said

So how do I get to heaven, the boy asked

The doctor didn’t know what to say because he didn’t believe

Ask your mom he said

And the boy was back at square one

The boy was sad that Oliver was far off in some place

And nobody even knew where this place was

ANTHONY'S ASHES

Me and Anthony circa 2007.

This poem is a true story. It happened today!








PICKING UP ANTHONY’S ASHES

by matt burns

I knew I needed to go there myself

I felt I needed some sort of closure

Everybody else from my family felt really awkward

And uncomfortable 

And sad about going

But I was pretty sure I could handle it

So I drove to the Vet

I parked

I walked in…

There were a couple of people in the waiting area

And there was a young Vet Tech at the desk

It was awkward as hell

“I’m here to pick up my dog’s…um…ashes.”

The Tech gave me her condolences

I thanked her

She handed me a small, gift-like bag with a wooden box of ashes in it

It was even more awkward

I handed her the check that covered the expenses

My hand was shaking as I handed her the check

The girl could tell I was nervous

She gave me the receipt and said she was sorry again

I thanked her one more time, took the bag with the ashes and left

I got into my car and put the bag on the floor of the passenger seat

I started driving out of the parking lot

But I realized the bag was not secure

I stopped and secured the bag – this time, in the backseat

It took me ten or fifteen seconds

I finally pulled out of the lot and into the busy street

I was behind a black pick-up truck and I stopped at a red light

It took me a moment to see it

And also a moment for it to register in my brain

But I was staring at a word on the back of the truck

It said ANTHONY in big white letters

It was an advertisement for a company Anthony Builders, something like that

But the name ANTHONY was in big letters, everything else small

ANTHONY

The odds of this happening, I think, are one in a million, maybe more

And I don’t think that’s an exaggeration

Had I not stopped and secured the ashes for the ten or fifteen seconds

I never would have ended up behind that particular truck

And I never would have seen the name ANTHONY

The timing was perfect

I’m pretty sure my dog was saying Hello

And letting me know he was OK

TWO POEMS SPAWNED BY A DEATH

My dog died a couple of days ago and the feelings I experienced afterwards gave birth to these two poems...

A GOOD CRY

by matt burns

I’m 32-years-old

My dog died yesterday

I was pretty sad about his death

But I was even more concerned about how my other dog would react

I remembered the movie Bambi

Where the baby deer has to deal with the mother’s death

It was so sad

All this is what made me cry more than I’ve ever cried

Probably since I was about eight-years-old I’d never cried so hard

I’m pretty sure I haven’t shed much of a tear in years

I was pretty sure my tear ducts had dried out completely

Maybe my eyes have burned a bit, misted at times

But today I absolutely balled my eyes out

Over

And over

Again

In the end, it kind of felt cathartic

Like I needed it

Like it was a big build-up of sadness

And years of depression

Purged from my soul

One great, big detox

All I needed was the death of my dog

To push me over the edge

And wash all the melancholy out

I think it’s good to have a big, hard-core cry

Now and again

Even if you’re a man

Be a man

And cry

Cry like a man

DEATH IS LIFE

by matt burns

No matter how much you prepare for it

It comes

Obviously

It’s inevitable

And I’m not talking your own death

I’m talking the death of others

First, you’re shocked and feel nothing

Then it slowly seeps in

And seeps in even further

And further

And your stomach gets so twisted

And you feel sick

You can hardly walk

You don’t want to exist, think or feel

Every song you listen to is sad

Even if it’s bright and sunny out, it’s sad weather

Your job doesn’t matter

Career doesn’t matter

Money doesn’t matter

The only thing that matters is LOVE

For that person 

Or animal

But now they’re gone

Forever

Even if you believe in heaven

Or an afterlife

Death still absolutely destroys you

You want to stay in a room the rest of your life

Make no friends

Marry no wife

Give birth to no kids

Accumulate no pets

Because if you’re completely alone

You never have to experience the hurt again

But being alone isn’t right

It isn’t healthy

Being saddened by a death means you’ve lived

Avoiding the sadness from a death means you lived very little

Because relationships is life

Isolation is death

Indeed, it’s a paradox

DEATH IS LIFE