David Duchovny's Touching Poem After His Dog's Passing Is a Tear-Jerker

Though David Duchovny is best known for his acting gigs, such as his iconic turn as paranormal investigator Fox Mulder on the groundbreaking television show The X-Files, he is also a talented writer who has published six novels. Before his acting career took off, he even earned a master’s degree in English Literature from Yale University, and was at work on his PhD when he abandoned his studies to pursue life on the screen.

But Duchovny’s love of the written word has never waned, and was fully on display yesterday when he posted a touching tribute to his beloved rescue dog, Brick.

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Brick appears to have been a shepherd mix, and has been part of Duchovny’s family for the better part of a decade, and even starred in a public service announcement with Duchovny back in 2016, where he licked peanut butter off the actor’s famously handsome mug as a fundraiser for efforts Duchovny was making to encourage shelters to become low or no-kill facilities. An ardent supporter of animal rescue centers, Duchovny knows how much love an adopted dog like Brick could bring into a home.

Related: Halsey Announces the Sudden Death of Her Dog Jagger in Gut-Wrenching Instagram Post

Grief Over Pet Loss

Sadly, it was time for him to let Brick go, and he expressed his grief in words that so many pet lovers can attest to feeling themselves.

The poem read, in part:

The moment I read those words, I know just how he felt. When I had to put my own dog to sleep, after a long bout with terminal cancer, I remember lying on my bed crying unable to think about anything but a sort of baffled confusion. Where had she gone? Where was she?

Duchovny, too, managed to capture that bizarre sense of emptiness, that inexplicable hole in the universe encompassed by grief and loss. We have poetry because it’s hard to quantify the idea that there was once a presence in the universe which is no longer there. All we can do is describe it.

Actress Gillian Anderson, Duchovny’s X-Files co-star and longtime friend, was among the first to offer her condolences in response to the post. “Awww, Double D, I’m so sorry. He was your guy. RIP Brick Duchovny.”

It’s Okay To Be Sad When Your Pet Dies

Many times, people dealing with the loss of a pet feel guilt or shame over the depth and power of their emotions. They think to themselves—why am I so sad? It was “only” a dog. (Or a cat, or a bird, or a horse, or…) But that is not how grief works. Your pet wasn’t “only” anything. They were an important part of your life, and it’s only natural that you should be affected by their deaths.

Psychologists urge those dealing with the loss of a pet not to deny their emotions or seek to suppress them, and also not to feel shame about missing their animal, or feeling bad about it. Our society rarely practices the same rituals around animal death as we do around the death of human family members. We rarely hold funerals or memorial services.

But you should commemorate this difficult time in some way.

Sometimes, making art that honors your loved one’s passing will help you contextualize the grief. And if you aren’t up for making your own, you can always lean on the poets who have already tackled these topics.

Like David Duchovny.

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