When you found me I was broken

Crawling, drifting, future bleak

Gave me shelter from the darkness

And a voice so I could speak

You stood up for me against it

With a spine as strong as steel

And you held me close beside you

I never doubted how you feel

My prayers had now been answered

And my pain could now subside

Your human hands were gentle

And your mercy gave me pride

When my time had come and gone

And I took my wings to fly

You cried every tear you had

But you wouldn’t say goodbye

As I crossed that bridge to sunshine

With its colours bright and true

My heart was filled with love

And that love belongs to you

He still lays in the sunshine

Though by now his spirit flies

Up beyond the rainbow

The farthest reaches of the skies

He still lingers in his armchair

To watch the world go by

Dreams only of his lady

Lays across her when she cries

He still walks beside her

Though his angel wings are real

Bounding down the alley

With all the joy he feels

He still dances with delight

Only now with a puppy’s gait

Forever in the sunshine

For the lady will he wait

She had dreamt of a time
When the world would be still
But the Warrior knew
She would long for the thrill
Of battle and tears
Of the path left unknown
How far she had travelled
How often alone
Not long ago
She turned her eyes from the black
But always inside her
She knew what she lacked
In her time on her terms
A new war would be waged
But she wouldn’t be held
Like a creature that’s caged
Instead she would rise
Like a phoenix from ash
Rise above all the mayhem
And find peace at last

Autumn came

But our time was brief

We bonded hard

Within our grief

She was broken

As was my heart

This love it was

True from the start

Some careless soul

Took away her light

Her tiny body

Too weak to fight

In my arms she lay

Death’s shadow near

In her final breathes

She did not fear

I still feel her love

Though her spirit’s free

I held her once

Now she holds me

Thundering paws

Cascade down the narrow hallway

Colliding with every obstacle

Yet remain unyielding

Hurling through space and time

Like aliens adrift in the Milky Way

Barreling and bounding

With reckless abandon

Breathe grows ever heavier

Chasing air and tails

Scrambling for more

Step back or be trampled

Forty four paws of furry fury

Stampede to the next adventure….

Caution! When you pass the shelter

That I have carved out for myself

Under the thick and twisted jagged brush

I am a warrior out of survival

Caution! When you trap me in that cage

I slam my broken body against the smooth cold steel

I am a survivor and will be free again

Caution! When you pass my kennel

Bright lights and human hands make me cower

Yet I have a heart that can learn to trust again

Caution! When you stare into my face

My eyes are full of stories only a wounded soul can know

But this place with its warmth has given me hope and at last joy

Caution! When my new family promises me forever

Opens the door to greet me

I smile back at them and will knock them over with my love

If you had a friend

That didn’t have a home

Would you try and help them out

Or leave them on their own?

If you had a friend

Whose mother couldn’t cope

Would you offer up your help

Or simply wait and hope

If you knew a friend was starving

Didn’t have enough to eat

Would you offer up some comfort

Or watch their soul deplete

And if this friend had four legs

Instead of only two

Does that change how you would answer

Does it change what you would do?

You are my hero

You stand up for the weak

Give voices to those

Who themselves cannot speak

You are my hero

For you know what’s ahead

You’ll walk a trail of despair

No other would tread

You are my hero

For those images you keep

They may haunt you forever

And still make you weep

You are my hero

For all that you do

And you are their hero

And they thank you too

Angels masked as humans gather in the dusty lot

Long before the break of day

The sky a cold pale blue reminder

Of the tears they will not cry

Today

The road ahead is unforgiving

Long hours spent in anticipation

They arrive at their destination and the mood shifts

To that of the determination they will need

Today

Moments they think cannot be forgotten

Turn to hours that stretch long past any imagination

How many sad eyes have they seen?

How many souls that never had a chance?

Push on through the endlessness of

Today

Suddenly they find themselves in tomorrow

Back in that lonely truck

Carrying angels with memories no soul should bear

Down the long road home

Praying that they made a difference

And knowing they would make the same journey again

Tomorrow