He was no product of mans' misguided design;
For the eye, nothing special to see.
Men had no hand in his breeding,
His was a different pedigree.

His roots went deep in the history
Of his race-and of mine.
His noble spirit had been handed down
Through a long and honored line.

A line not of blue-bloods, but of canny hunters;
Who worked together so that none need lack.
Living by the law of tooth and claw-
But knowing also the rule of the pack.

He blended the deadly skills of his ancestors
With a gentle common sense;
And valor that cared not a whit for discretion
When he stood in my defense.

The tone of anger, the accusation of shame
Was the only disgrace his stubborn heart could know.
A harsh look was discipline enough,
A sharp word stung more than a blow.

Noble? Brave? Yes he was all of that, and more;
But that wasn't what mattered so much then.
What mattered most to a lonely young heart:
He was ever and always my friend.

He faced life squarely, feet well apart,
In a firm and honest stand.
The lessons he taught by quiet example
Did much to make a boy a man.

Lessons??

I learned that appearances can often deceive,
That bark counts for less than bite.
That right lends strength to your stand;
And a strong stand can win without a fight.

That foolish arrogance is not courage.
That true strength shuns ferocity.
That life is a wondrous adventure;
And love-above all else- is loyalty.

But the most bitter lesson was most important:
That there is one pain friends can never share.
That deaths' hand, though always impartial,
Is never, ever fair.

Whatever the tool; poison, sickness, or old age,
I know death would one day have had us apart.
But no grave will ever bury the memories;
Nor cold earth fill his place in my heart.

But death is not what pains me still;
That is a debt all the living owe.
It's knowing that I buried a hero that day-
And no one will ever know.

The world mourns little for such mongrels as he and I:
No marble tombs for such as we.
But he built his own monument in a friends heart;
And chiseled there is his one eulogy.

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