Dumb Puppies, Good Dogs
The standard instruction:
Gently bring your mind back,
the way you’d gently correct
a wandering puppy you’re training.
To those who feel like dumb puppies,
starting over and over again,
Joseph Goldstein says,
“we’re all dumb puppies.”
But put that puppy in a safe container,
where it can run amok without harm:
The puppy comes back on its own.
You’re not so much trusting the puppy
as the love,
the relationship.
The next time you catch yourself—
I mean, the puppy—
straying again
maybe forget about correction.
Try that other voice.
Who’s a good dog?
Such a good dog!
Maybe some days the thing to practice isn’t correction.
Today, try a little tenderness.
Trust the love.