Yes, I’ve been quiet – I haven’t blogged or tweeted much lately. I’ve pulled into myself and my relationship recently but I’m slowly emerging.

On 30 January I said goodbye to my 15-year old beagle, Daisy. She went peacefully and didn’t suffer long, but it still left me broken. I had Daisy almost her entire life and while she was an old dog, it was still an unexpected loss. I spent days in a daze, crying constantly and unable to think straight. I wrote anguished poems about loss and heartache. I didn’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone. I curled up on my couch and cried.

A week after I lost Daisy, my husband and I went out of town for a belated birthday trip for me. We left our too-quiet home for a luxurious B&B in upstate New York – we spent the days wandering around the snow-covered towns and the nights relaxing in the jacuzzi tub. We unwound, we relaxed, we moved forward.

Then it was back to work and life and as usual, another work trip. I’m feeling better every day. I still miss Daisy so very much, but I know it was the right decision to say goodbye – keeping her around would have been selfish.

This post has little, if anything, to do with poetry but the loss of my sweet pup has certainly fueled some writing. Being a writer can be a blessing and a curse but in this case, it gives me one way to get through it, to push past the pain and eventually, write my way out of it.