You Would See Him in Dreams

An offering for Dia de los Muertos

​By Zach Hively

It’s Halloween. The longer I live, the less time I spend thinking about costumes and goblins and all that—and the more I relate to the traditions expressed through Dia de los Muertos.

Full disclosure: I was not raised in this tradition. It is not my culture. I appreciate Dia de los Muertos, although I do not pretend to celebrate or commemorate it.

I do, however, hope it is appropriate for me to draw inspiration from the tradition and honor this time of remembering those who have passed.
That includes, for me, the animals I have known and loved. Many people usher in their Day of the Dead commemorations by remembering their pets.

This poem is an offering to my first dog.

You Wondered When You Would See Him in Dreams

All this time gone by,
and you dream of
grocery lists
and course schedules
and even old friends,
but you don’t dream of him.

You talk to him, you cry for him,
you invite him everywhere you go.
You’re pretty sure he’s around,
even when he doesn’t show himself.

So you go about your life
until the night you come home
and he galumphs
down the stairs
to meet you at the door.

You meet him
and he is all white.
You crack clear through
seeing him
after you’ve been gone
all this time.

He, though
—he doesn’t care
where you’ve been.

The sun warms the blanket.
You nuzzle the pillow
and even though
you no longer look first thing
to see where he’s sleeping,
you tell him
first thing this morning
that white
suits him well.