Beau by Jimmy Stewart (poem)

"Beau" live reading from The Tonight Show

"Beau" text

WARNING: If you like animals, have a dog, or have had one in the past this "Beau" will make you cry and even you don’t like animals all that much, be careful because this poem will likely make you tear up.

My wife and I have decided to get a dog. She grew up with Abby, a Shetland sheepdog and one of the things she always wanted to as an adult was get a puppy of her own. This is something I never considered before meeting my wife.

I remember bugging my parents about getting a dog but not really making too much of an issue out of it. I wanted a dog to fit in with my friends who had dogs, not because I actually liked animals. My parents weren’t really into pets and it wasn’t something they wanted as part of their lifestyle. They grew up with dogs in Taiwan but they were more animals than pets. So beyond the fish that inhabited our house every so often, pets weren’t part of my life growing up.

I’m not comfortable around dogs. So when Diana, my wife suggested that we babysit a dog named Wrigley for a week and a half, I was a little apprehensive. It’s not like I don't inherent dislike dogs, I just don’t know what to do with them. The first afternoon I spent with the dog was a little awkward and uncomfortable but after a week and a half, I found myself fighting back tears not wanting to let go of Wrigley.

The first time I saw Jimmy Stewart read his poem, “Beau” was as part of a boxed videocassette tape collection of clips from The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. My parents bought this collecting having many found memories of this show which defined which featured some of the most important cultural figures in popular culture.

Whenever we would watch Jimmy Stewart speak about his Beau, I would get sad, more because Jimmy Stewart himself was becoming choked up, but now when I watch this clip, I’m tearing up for a different reason. I understand why Stewart is so sad.

When I got back from work on Monday, the day after I gave the Wrigley back, I walked in the front door and to my dismay there was no dog sitting attentively waiting to greet me. I had to catch myself before I called for Wrigley. I felt silly that I had forgotten that the dog was no longer staying with us. I miss our house guest and that was only after a week and a half, I can’t imagine what kind of wreak I’d be after losing a dog like Stewart lost Beau.

Jimmy Stewart’s poem, “Beau” starts out describing his dog as flawed. Not a well-trained dog, Beau would not sit or stay and seemed to do things out of spite. Beau lit the house on fire but Stewart brushes this off as not being all that important. The loss of material things always seems less significant in retrospect.

I got to say Wrigley was similar. He would come when I called only if there wasn't something more interesting around. If I called him when he was taking a nap he would open up one eye to check on me, realize that I didn't have anything and then stretch out even more in an attempt to take up as much floor space as possible.

As crazy as Beau’s evening walks were, Stewart describes how Beau would stop every so often to make sure that Stewart and his wife were there. Every time my wife would leave the condo Wrigley would start whining, I would call him over to let him know that I was there and he would curl up around my desk chair as I sat. Then he would start licking the legs of my chair, which was just a little weird but anyways he just wanted to know that he wasn’t alone.

At night Beau sometimes lied in bed with Stewart and other times he would just sit there and watch his owners and softly sigh and Stewart feels that knows why.

He would wake up at night
And he would have this fear
Of the dark, of life, of lots of things,
And he’d be glad to have me near.

Sometimes, Wrigley would wake up from a nap find me in another room, and settle down to take a nap near me. On some level like Beau, he just felt better knowing I was near. In describing what Beau’s fears, Stewart is describing his own fears, telling us how Beau comforted him in the same way that Wrigley comforted me.

I asked my mom what she thought about me and Diana getting a dog. To my surprise, she immediately said it was a great idea. My mom believe all people benefit from having a dog in their life if they accept the responsibility of having a pet and view the dog as a part of the family. My wife and I are a family. We may be a small family and on the short side but we are a family. Getting a dog means that our family is getting a little bigger and that's exciting.

I know that there will be some times that our dog will be a pain. I’m sure she will have accidents, get sick and need to be walked when I just don’t feel like it. There will come a time when our dog will have to leave us, like Beau left Stewart and I know that is going to be hard. However, I have no doubt that it will all be worth it.

To our puppy: I can't promise that we'll do everything right in raising you but I can promise that Diana and I will do the best we can to care for you and that we will always love you. You are in our dreams right now as we look forward to meeting you. You will be in our thoughts as we share our lives together and you will be in our heart long after you leave us.

We can't wait to welcome you into our family.