Choses Vues: 1

Hearts full of love. Where to turn when your heart's full of love?

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in April, under the Seine on metro line 13, a little black bull-dog sat between the legs of her master. He was sinewy and hard, like a sailor, like Popeye, wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans and black work boots. He had tattoos on his arms and his head was shaved. He looked about 40 or so: grown-up and accustomed to being independent, but not old. She was black like his clothes and well groomed: her fur was shiny and she smelled clean. Around her neck was a collar attached to a leash (also black). On the other en

d of the leash, was a small, muscular hand.

The dog calmly lifted her head as I sat across from her. The master gave a look of consent when I motioned that I wanted to pet her head. He was wearing headphones, so I didn't expect him to speak. The dog sniffed my hand and then accepted my caress with evident pleasure. I wanted to take her in my arms like a baby. She was so soft. She came closer and gently lifted her fore paws onto my knees then backed away of her own volition. Her master whispered, "Assis." She obeyed.

During this time, a family: a father, a mother, a little boy, a little girl and an aunt had taken the seats between me, the dog and its master and the door to the car. I slowly became conscious of their presence due to the little boy's excited repetition of a nursery rhyme. The boy, who must have been five or six, was standing in front of his little sister, singing a song about a silver bird and illustrating the lyrics with a series of hand movements. He had a pretty face: oval-shaped with a button nose and large brown eyes that lit up as he was singing.

I think that the dog became conscious of the little family in the same way I did. She leaned her body in their direction, and lay down like that. Her eyes - two perfect circles - riveted on the little boy. Two black eyes full of desire and an infinite capacity for love.