[Verse]
You were the smallest shadow in the whelping box,
barely bigger than my paw,
But when you opened those dark eyes
The whole room felt the thunder of your heart.
Your brothers barked for milk and space,
You just dreamed past the fence,
already chasing horizons
Nobody else could see yet.
I watched you fight the current
like a leaf that refused to sink,
paddling hard against the river
that tried to write your ending.
Gunther, my little rebel, my brave, reckless flame,
You carried the whole sky inside your chest.
You wanted to be more than bloodlines,
more than the guard your father pressed.
Now the night is too quiet,
the yard is too wide,
and this big mother’s heart
is cracked open and bleeding inside.
Gunther… how do I breathe
when the river finally won?
You’d sit on the porch like a king on a throne,
watching trucks roll by,
whining soft little songs
about places you swore you’d ride.
You told the moon your secrets,
said you’d protect the whole damn world one day.
I laughed and licked your ears—
My runt with the titan soul,
always too large for this life anyway.
[Bridge]
They say mothers know before the phone ever rings,
I felt the silence drop the second you slipped away.
I dug through the dark with these trembling paws,
howling your name till my throat gave out raw.
I still don’t understand—
Why the strongest hearts
Get the shortest time to burn.
[Chorus]
(soft, broken)
Gunther, my little rebel, my once-in-a-lifetime flame,
You showed the whole world what brave looks like.
You never let fate own you;
You danced down the river and rewrote its name.
I’m proud…
I’m shattered…
I’m trying to learn how to live
with this hole in my chest
shaped exactly like you.
Sleep soft, my warrior, my dreamer, my leaf against the flood.
Wait for me beyond the river—
I’ll find you when my paws are old.
Until then I’ll guard your story,
tell every pup that runs through this yard:
the smallest body in the litter
can still hold the biggest heart
the world has ever known.
I love you, Gunther.
Mama’s still trying to understand…
but I’ll love you
till the stars forget how to shine.