Jump out of the truck

Knees almost buckle…maybe I am getting too old for this

Think of the ones we’ve saved

Keep moving

Notice the tiny girl on the driveway

Tattered dress, dirty face, sad eyes

Have you seen a doggie?   Her eyes flood with light

Through the shadows of what they have seen

Stretches her arm out – over there

We trudge through the mud – aware of the dark chill of the wind

Something moves beyond the house

Cautiously we approach – hurried anticipation of what awaits us

There she is, an emaciated, anxious female dog, curling into a ball

The only clue she is alive – her belly rises and falls faster on our approach

She attempts a growl, low and raw, but she is weak and tired

Belly extended she cowers and braces for what she fears

Human hands

Extend out to gently stroke her swollen pregnant belly

Now into the crate – away from this place

What is it to run free, be wild, have a home, be loved?

Jump back in the truck

Knees creak, keep moving, keep saving

Until there are none

One born in a home, to welcoming hands and gentle faces

Another born in a burned out car, abandoned in a field

One raised with his mother and siblings in a home filled with love

Another fighting for food, fighting for warmth, fighting for life

One watches each of this siblings leave for other homes with happy strangers

Another watches his brother, then his sister, then his mother wither away

One plays with toys and gets love from all around him

Another plays with metal shards in the discarded car

One lives out his days in happiness while the children around him grow

Another struggles every day, never even knowing the feeling of grass on his feet

Both leave this world and carry on over the rainbow bridge

One finds another and then run together with all the others

Into the field of dreams, the soft grass and endless love they all deserve

I am but a creature of man’s creation

Born out of man’s desire for loyal companionship

Yet here I sit

On the cold, wet, unforgiving ground

Alone

Away from the affection of

A warm smile

A gentle touch

A safe home

A forsaken wanderer whose ribcage bears the brand of a hungry beast

But food lost its appeal

Long ago

What remains is the bony, begging soul

Of your ragged, ravaged, long forgotten creation

Awaiting his Master in a garden of discarded desire

I’m off to the fight

Up early and bright

Trudge through the mud and the sorrow and rain

To save even one from a lifetime of pain

I’m no hero – I tell you – just little old me

Give me Kleenex and chocolate and happy I’ll be

Off to rescue and save ones yet unborn

But you’ll never see my battle scars worn

I love this fight though I cry like a child

Open space and the freedom to run with the wild

Faces of angels look up from their crates

No more litters for you – it’s not up for debate

Now you can run free and be wild and play

While I sit at my desk and dream of the day

When I’ll spend all my time giving more to the cause

The stronger the fight – The fewer the paws…..

You found me – ragged, alone

You took me

To a place you called home

I didn’t know this word, didn’t know this place

But you seemed to know me

you gently stroked my fur

And at last a human touch was kind

I was still timid

So wanting to believe

That I was finally safe – here in this place

Slowly my pain eased and my world opened

I met your friends and made a few of my own

I knew love

But it wasn’t to be

The damage was done

I was meant to cross the Rainbow

Though your eyes begged me to stay

You did all you could

Until one day when I looked into your face

Once again you knew just what I needed

And you let me go

I stand

Like a solider guarding the estate

The creature creeps in

Gentle footsteps, hardly breathing

I can smell him on the air

Three o’clock high – We dance again

He will have to pass me

To get where he wants to be

In the distance the trees dance

In the chilled Autumn air

I’m distracted – but only for a moment

The corner of my eye catches him

He makes his move – darting over the boundary

Now he’s mine!

I give chase

Crushing leaves under my feet

Away, away, he’s gone!

And my only thought

…darn Squirrel!!

I know some of you say, it’s a pity for me

To miss out on this life and all I could be

This life started out rough and it started out raw

And you could never imagine just what each of us saw

The beast within man could make our fiercest seem meek

No hope for the homeless, no love for the weak

Until one day our champions and warriors came

Saved the young and the old, the broken and lame

You gave us all homes, an escape, a retreat

Put us all back together from our hearts to our feet

And yet still we left you not long after that

Went over the Rainbow and with wagging tails sat

You showed us that humans can truly be kind

And we cherished your love even on borrowed time

I knew the world as a dark place
In my short life I had known no kind face
I didn’t yet know a soft touch
Or that a human could love so much
I dreamed of chasing the rabbits
But eating just wasn’t a habit
Behind a dumpster I lay my head
In a box where I longed to be fed
I got used to that cold rain
I got used to that deep pain
Then one day they took me away
These humans who had always betrayed
They put me in a crate where I shivered
And I longed for that box where I withered
All along she was standing beside me
Carrying my crate where I could see
We were rescued and saved
Didn’t need to be brave
For she took us all in and we healed
This warrior woman; an angel revealed
We thank you for your true heart
Your love is in fact, no small part
Why I now know what it means to be free
Because one day you rescued me
If I am meant to go on to the Rainbow
I will keep you in my heart and you should know
You’ll hear my thanks in the birds when they sing
For your love has given me wings