Dog Poems

THE MEANING OF RESCUE

Now that I'm home, bathed, settled and fed,
All nicely tucked in my warm new bed,
I'd like to open my baggage,
Lest I forget,
There is so much to carry -
So much to regret.

Hmmm...Yes, there it is, right on the top,
Let's unpack Loneliness, Heartache and Loss,
And there by my perch hides Fear and Shame.
As I look on these things I tried so hard to leave,
I still have to unpack my baggage called Pain.

I loved them, the others, the ones who left me,
But I wasn't good enough - for they didn't want me.
Will you add to my baggage?
Will you help me unpack?
Or will you just look at my things -
And take me right back?

Do you have the time to help me unpack?
To put away my baggage, to never repack?
I pray that you do - I'm so tired you see,
But I do come with baggage -
Will you still want me?

~ Author Unknown ~

A HUNTER'S POEM

A hunter shot a flock of geese that flew within his reach.
Two were stopped in their rapid flight and fell upon the beach.
The male bird lay at the water's edge and just before he died,
He faintly called to his wounded mate and she dragged herself to his side.
She bent her head and crooned to him in a way distressed and wild.
Caressing her one and only mate, as a mother would a child.
Then covering him with her broken wing and gasping with failing breath,
She laid her head against his breast, a feeble honk...then death.

This story is true but crudely told, for I was the man in this case.
I stood knee-deep in snow and cold and hot tears ran down my face.
I buried the birds in the sand where they lay, wrapped in my hunting coat,
And threw my gun and belt in the bay when I crossed in the open boat.
Hunters will call me a right poor sport and scoff at the things I did,
But that day something broke in my heart, and "Shoot again?" God forbid!

~ Lemuel T. Ward ~

THE LITTLE DOG ANGEL

High up in the courts of heaven today
A little dog-angel waits.
With the other dogs he will not play,
But he sits alone at the gates.
"For I know my master will come", says he
"And when he comes he will call for me."

He sees the spirits that pass him by
As they hasten towards the throne,
And he watches them with a wistful eye
As he sits at the gate alone,
"But I know if I just wait patiently
That someday my Master will come," says he.
And his Master far down on the earth below,
As he sits in his easy chair,
Forgets sometimes, and he whistles low
For the dog that is not there.
And the little dog-angel cocks his ears,
And dreams that his Master's call he hears.

And I know when at length his Master waits
Outside in the dark and cold
For the hand of Death to open the gates
That lead to the Courts of Gold,
The little dog-angel's eager bark
Will comfort his soul while he's still in the dark.

~ Norah M. Holland, 1870~

WHY ME?

I don't know why I'm homeless and no one cares for me,
I've tried to be a good little pup, good as any dog can be.
I had a home for a little while but one day I heard them say,
"You can't keep this female dog around", so they took me away.

They left me on a lonely road, no shelter and food for a pup,
I waited each day for their return, but now I've given up.
There's only one that knows I'm here, that knows of my awful plight,
A kitten that searches for food through the day, I hear her cry at night.

She lives beneath a pile of wood, so small, so scared, so thin.
To abandon a kitten so small and frail seems a terrible sin.
Help us dear God, this kitten and me, so hungry and so alone,
Guide some kind soul to find us and give us a home, sweet home.

~ Author Unknown ~

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