“For who can bear the burden of unconditional love?”*

Amos has been called to leave tending
his Sunday flock of sheep, and prophesy

on neighborhood streets justice
flowing like an unfailing stream,

a brotherhood of integrity.
He stands before each door and knocks.

He calls me by name and says to fill
his styrofoam cup with sweet tea,

no ice, fill to the brim and above,
no spilling, and grins like Herman’s

Raven, shepherd therapy dog
thirteen years at his side on the streets,

Herman studying war no more,
Raven’s gift, even now, having lain down

at his feet, no greater love.
And being from the sixties,

I sing the Beatles’ refrain,
“Love is all you need,”

and of course Amos laughs his toothy joy,
hope that I may still get it.

*Blue Dog, George Rodrigue and Lawrence S. Freundlich, Paintings by George Rodrigue. Viking Studio Books, the Penguin Group, 1994, twenty-two.