Half A Year of Becoming

I am five months old with paws too wide to hide,

chasing every sunset with the ocean as my guide.

A little bit of Husky in the songs I love to sing, a German Shepherd’s loyalty in every joyful spring.

A Bully’s gentle heart beats loudly in my chest, though I’m still just learning how to be my very best.

In two short days, I’ll turn six months old, it’s true,

and somehow every day still feels completely new.

Humans say I’m growing up. I think they’re quite mistaken.

I’m simply finding all the parts of me that have awakened.

I’ve learned that rainy grass feels cool beneath my feet, that every stick I proudly find is nature’s little treat.

I’ve learned that every stranger is a friend I haven’t met, and cuddles are life’s greatest thing I’ve ever gotten yet.

Sometimes I howl at moonlight or bark at dancing leaves, sometimes I sit in silence while the world around me breathes.

I’m adventure mixed with kindness, muddy paws and skies of blue, and I wear my floppy ears like crowns that somehow grew.

They say one day I’ll grow into these ears upon my head,

but I think they make me Ocean, just as everyone has said.

I’ve collected little memories faster than my baby teeth, the smell of morning sunshine and the earth beneath my feet.

The sound of hearing “Ocean!” when it’s spoken with such care, and knowing when I’m loved, I never have to wonder where.

I’ve learned that life isn’t counted by the months that pass us by, but by wagging tails and happy trails beneath an open sky.

By kisses given freely and the hearts we leave our mark on, by finding joy in simple things from every dusk till dawn.

Soon I’ll be six months old and still so much to learn,

with every walk and every game, another page I’ll turn.

Half a year is not so long, and yet I know it’s true,

I wasn’t made to be like anyone but me and only me.

I am winter wind and loyal shadow running through the sun, equal parts of playful chaos, wonder, love, and fun.

I am every piece of where I came from, stitched together perfectly, becoming who I was always meant and born to be.

These six months have taught me something I will always carry through:

Growing up isn’t becoming less of who you are.

It’s becoming more of you.

My name is Ocean.

I am almost six months old.

And I am only just beginning.