Whose Dog Do I walk Today?

How shall I be known when you come amongst us. I was asked.

There was only one answer I could give.

Not by name, though it be old and proved.

Not by my appearance, though we all look well as men.

Not by my words, though they be few, carefully chosen and cautious.

Nor even by my deeds, though they be righteous.

But by the manner of all of these.

And, going amongst the very few, not the chosen but the born, I was accepted and I was known by all.

Now time was as nothing to me, nor distance, nor pain, nor pleasure. Grief, ecstasy, all were as one.

Now I can choose whose dog I will walk today.

Anonymous article taken from the Dark Lily Journal No 10, Society of Dark Lily (London 1990).