#wagthetail

Teaser extract from: Black Dog on the Road by Marina White Raven.       The story of Black Dog's heroic 1500 mile adventure 'on the road' from Seattle to LA in the wake of Trump's triumph in Nov 2016. 

The story maps the artist’s journey of courage in the face of fear and how stepping into the chaos of the creative cycle may be navigated, danced and celebrated.

The Littlest Hobo

18th October 2016

Today was pivotal. Today I was lost. I cried today for my loss, for my courage in the face of despair, for the tragedy of my situation; homeless, ownerless, floating always in the in-between, like a ghostly shadow moving between two islands; UK. USA. UK. USA.

I spoke to my Mum. I spoke to my big sister. I realised as much as they love me, how much they do not fully understand me. They do not appear to ‘get’ me. They do not know all of me.

I am dog once more. Words or no words, my message is not clear. I am not heard.

Today I questioned: Is there any real value to my work? Today I questioned the heart, I questioned love; is human love real or is it mere projection. In relationship; another human allows me to see my best self in reflection, and I reflect the reflection back. Is this love… Is love merely empty reflection? When we look into our pet dog or cat’s eyes, do we experience love or is it the reflection of our own feelings; soft, open, raw, human, wanting... our being-ness?

Today the rawness of my human covering felt the heat of human-being. My warm fluffy dogskin peeled off and rolled up into a trash sack. The nothingness and fullness of my life as Marina came back into full colour. Black Dog has left this building, this ‘house of Marina’.

Black Dog is ‘The Littlest Hobo’* leaving just as he has made a real connection, just as the young boy star has overcome his difficulty. In this episode a 4 year old boy named Grey, overcomes his fear of a big monstrous doggie living in the Art Gallery (also his living space as his parents Todd & Chandler are the owner/curators). Grey overcomes his fear by making the monster his friend in a mutual feeding ritual, which includes the ageing family black dog ‘Dodger’.

………………

Off she goes with her heavy bags (some plastic) walking in the rain, alone. Looking for an unfamiliar bus stop, in an unfamiliar town, without the correct change in her pocket or local sim card for her phone. Same same but different.

And so it goes... and so it goes... and so it goes on, this trot, trot, trot. Trotting down the lane, sometimes taking time to sniff out an interesting object along the edge of the path, sometimes following a friendly looking stranger down a side street towards some promise or elusive dream of tomorrow...

Maybe tomorrow I’ll wanna settle down, until tomorrow I’ll just keep movin’ on... **

How much longer can this little doggie hold out an open paw ? The offering of help, the offering to be helped, the open invitation that desires YOU, that demands your presence, saying:

“Without you we are nothing; We are not complete. We are not whole, we are not WE”

Let us gather together... ‘togather’. Let us gambol in the parks and run after squirrels and say hello to strangers, approaching each other with smiles and wagging tails and open arms. Playful, happy, trusting little doggies...

Of course there are nasty dogs too, rabid animals, wild eyed and frothing at the mouth, infected by dis-ease. Dog bless the sorry sad mutts that live among us; the desperate, frail and hopeless, the addicts and criminals, the poor and homeless, the sick and tired. Will our doggy eyes see the best in these underdogs? Will our doggie hearts open to receive the them and realise they are also me too? And, how about the others; the TOP dogs, the privileged people, the ones who are greedy for riches, wanting more, with insatiable lusts for power and control, giving only when their conditions are met, only when a good return is guaranteed. Do we hate and fear the Bigger Dogs with their powerful jaws and glossy coats. Do we fill our hearts with furious envy for our own shadows and demons?

Black Dog will offer his open paw to everyone. Really... everyone? even Mr. Trump? Hmmmmm? What I want to say here is not merely provocation, what I want to say is;

If I were Donald’s dog I’d look at him with these same doggy eyes, hold him with these same fluffy arms and listen with these same attentive ears.

*The Littlest Hobo: Children’s TV series (CTV 1979–1985) A stray German Shepherd, the titular Hobo, wanders from town to town, helping people in need. Although the concept (of a dog saving the day) was perhaps similar to that of Lassie, the Littlest Hobo's destiny was to befriend those who apparently needed help. Despite the attempts of the many people whom he helped to adopt him, he appeared to prefer to be on his own, and would head off by himself at the end of each episode.