Guiding Eyes

Corky, a yellow Labrador

It's been five years
Since I was paired with this dog
Who, in fact, is more than a dog -
She watches for me.

Our twin minds go walking,
And I suspect as we enter the subway
On Lexington
That we're a kind of centaur -
Or maybe two owls
Riding the shoulders of Minerva.
The traffic squalls and plunges
At Columbus Circle,
Seethes down Broadway,
And we step out
Into the blackness
That alarmed Pascal:
The emptiness
Between stars.

I suppose we're scarcely whole
If I think on it -
We walk on a dead branch,
Two moths still attached,
The inert day poised above us,
The walls of the canyon looming.

Did I think on it?

A blessing opens by degrees
And I must walk
Both bodily and ghostly
Down Fifth Avenue,
Increasing my devotion full much
To the postulate of arrival -
To how I love this inexhaustible dog
Who leads me
Past jackhammers
And the police barriers
Of New York.

All day snow falls
On the disorderly crowds,
It clothes Miss Corky
Until her tawny fur
Carries the milky dirt
Of ocean and stone.

The centaur gathers
What passes from our flesh
Into the heart
Of animal faith.

Meanwhile
She guides me home.

This poem taken from Only Bread, Only Light (Copyright 2000 by Stephen Kuusisto, Copper Canyon Press)

Corky was Steve's first guide dog from Guiding Eyes for the Blind and their "love" story is featured in Planet of the Blind by Stephen Kuusisto.

Graphic: Photo of Steve facing the camera.  He's lying on his left side with his chin propped up by his left hand.  Corky, a big yellow Labrador, is sitting next to him.  We see her profile.  It almost looks as if she's resting her chin on Steve's head.

Comments

[Georgia Whitney]

I wish I could have known Miss Corky. Mr. Vidal is a spectacular dog, but he does have big paws to fill.

Georgia

[Connie]

Miss Corky was very special indeed. I always tell Vidal "you're a good boy when you're sleeping"... unfortunately Corky set the bar a little too high for him. She NEVER stole bananas off the kitchen counter like Vidal did just the other day. She was too much THE LADY.

[Georgia Whitney]

I once referred to Vidal as "the world's greatest guide dog" and Steve immediately corrected me, saying no, that was Miss Corky's title.

Maybe Vidal needed his potassium???

[Connie]

Well there you go Georgia. That's as good an excuse as any I suppose!

[Buckblog]

My wife's guide dog "Fancy" faithfully and happily worked until she was 10 guiding and protecting her. The bond between her and Fancy was fantastic. It was difficult to see the time coming when Fancy could no longer work, even though she wanted to.

We were glad to be able to retire her to a family with other labs and plenty of space to romp.

[Connie]

That's a very sad day when a guide dog is considered officially retired, isn't it?