Before leaving this world on January 17, Mary Oliver wrote Dog Songs. Here's my favorite.

THE SWEETNESS OF DOGS

What do you say, Percy? I am thinking

of sitting out on the sand to watch

the moon rise. It's full tonight.

So we go

and the moon rises, so beautiful it

makes me shudder, makes me think about

time and space, makes me take

measure of myself: one iota

pondering heaven. Thus we sit, myself

thinking how grateful I am for the moon's

perfect beauty and also, oh! how rich

it is to love the world. Percy, meanwhile,

leans against me and gazes up into

my face. As though I were just as wonderful

as the perfect moon.