Lord,
I keep watch!
If I am not here
who will guard their house?
Watch over their sleep?
Be faithful?
No one but you and I
understand
what faithfulness is.
They call me, “Good dog! Nice dog!”
Words . . .
I take their pats
and the old bones they make me happy.
I take kicks too
when they come my way.
None of that matters.
I keep watch!
Lord,
do not let me die
until, for them,
all danger is driven away.
by Carmen Bernos de Gasztold
Translated by Rumer Godden