tion>
The Joy of Lex:
Life With a Service Dog
by
John Thomas Clark
Copyright 2011 John Thomas Clark,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0129-4
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. For permission, contact [email protected], or P.O. Box 233H, Scarsdale, NY 10583.
Cover design and book design by Diane Buccheri
Front cover photograph by Keith A. Mancini
For Ginny,
Christine and John and,
of course,
Lex
With Love and Gratitude
INTRODUCTION
I am not a master poet. Prose is my game. I am a frequent reader of poetry, however, and I am drawn to the work of Donald Justice, T. S. Eliot, Dryden, and others. You will never hear me presume to explain why any particular poem or poet is good. I only know what I like, and I very much like John Thomas Clark’s sonnets about his assistance dog, Lex.
On the subject of dogs, however, I am better versed than I am in poetry. I have often written about dogs in novels and articles. In my faith, there are differing opinions about whether these beautiful and loving creatures have immortal souls, but the Church allows for the possibility. I do not entertain that possibility: I embrace with certainty the conviction that dogs have souls. We and our canine companions are souls in transit from one life to another, and we share a destiny.
Those dogs bred and raised and trained by Canine Companions for Independence, as was Lex, are exceptional creatures. A friend of ours, disabled by a spinal injury and confined to a wheelchair, had such a singular and wonderful relationship with his first assistance dog (now passed away) that he has said, given the choice of never having been disabled or never having known that dog, he would choose the dog and therefore the disability. This says more about the human-dog bond than anything I could write on the subject in a lifetime of writing.
My wife, Gerda, and I have been blessed with two dogs released from the CCI program. When we lost the first, Trixie, we felt as if we had lost a child, and the grief was deep and lasting. The second, Anna, is only two and a half as I write this, and her joy in every small detail of life sometimes brings tears of happiness to my eyes.
In this collection of sonnets, John Thomas Clark captures perfectly the details of his life with an assistance dog, relishes the beauty of small moments, and celebrates the grace that waits for us in every moment of the day if only we will open our eyes and our hearts to the recognition of it.
–– Dean Koontz, 2008
A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to
Canine Companions for Independence.
FOREWORD
I am a person who delights in his creature comforts. This book concerns those comforts. The Joy of Lex: Life with a Service Dog is dedicated to the delight of my life –– Ginny, my bride of forty years, and to my daughter Christine and my son John. It is also dedicated to, and is all about, another delight –– a four-footed one –– Lex, my black Lab service dog, with whom I’ve been teamed for three years.
The Joy of Lex began with a suggestion from Ginny’s brother-in-law Ray Powell, DVM, who thought an assistance dog might be of help with the Activities of Daily Living of my disabled condition. With Ginny’s encouragement, we applied for admittance to the organization Ray suggested –– Canine Companions for Independence (CCI). After a long and thorough vetting, we were accepted into their program at Medford, Long Island, where we were in training for two weeks in August of 2005.
In The Joy of Lex, you will meet Lex and accompany us through CCI’s training program. Then, you will see us experience life at home and watch us interact with the outside world. These poems reveal how Lex works and how he plays, and demonstrate Lexie’s marvelous personality. You’ll observe an exceptionally smart dog (he knows his left from his right better than I do) as he performs many services for me –– services he was trained to do such as picking up items I’ve dropped, opening doors and turning lights on and off. You’ll also see him perform tasks he wasn’t trained to do as when he saves me from certain injury in a serious wheelchair mishap. You’ll even watch this intelligent dog question the choice of a New York Yankees relief pitcher, and though muse for these poems, you’ll see him fall asleep as I read them to him. I hope he’s a better judge of pitchers than poetry.
As my muse, Lex has enabled me to finally find and write about a positive dimension of my disability. That positive dynamic is Lex himself. For Ginny, my family and me, Lex is a joy to know, to have, and to hold.
In acknowledging the dramatis personae involved in this production, I must first announce my heartfelt thanks to CCI for having matched me with Lex, a beautiful dog who has improved my life in countless ways. I am indebted to Dean Koontz, not only for writing such a wonderful Introduction to The Joy of Lex: Life with a Service Dog, but also for all he and his wife, Gerda, do to make us aware of, and appreciate, the special relationships we can have with Man’s Best Friend. To Derek Mahon, my former teacher, I am especially obligated to express my profound appreciation for his enthusiastic encouragement of my poetry and his thoughtful comments about this book. Eve Anthony Hanninen, editor of The Centrifugal Eye, leaves me greatly obliged for her most incisive thinking in evening out my poems. Diane Buccheri, publisher of OCEAN Magazine, has my enormous gratitude for the beautiful cover design and her marvelous layout of the book. A special and enduring tribute is reserved for the efforts of Keith Mancini for capturing the many faces and facets of Lex in his photographs. His love for his own chocolate Lab, Henna, shines through his work. I am beholden to my friend Richard Leonard who has provided valuable insights and helpful suggestions on every dynamic of this book from the very beginning.
Also, indispensable to The Joy of Lex has been my family. While Ginny and Lex have been center stage as the main characters, behind the scenes Christine and John have worked tirelessly on this project since its inception, and their help has been incalculable in staging its presentation.
– John Thomas Clark
PUBLICATION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A WORKHORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR, The Linnet’s Wings, April 2008
AN AERIE FEELING, Boston Literary Magazine, March 2007
BLACK GOLD, Tiger’s Eye, Autumn 2007
BLACK LIGHTS, The Centrifugal Eye, May 2008
BOWLED OVER, Tiger’s Eye, Autumn 2007
DOG-GONE, Boston
