Golden Poetry

A Poem for the New Puppy Owner

Don't smell crotches,
Don't eat plants.
Don't steal food or underpants.
Don't eat my socks,
Don't grab my hair...
DON'T RIP THE STUFFING FROM THAT CHAIR!
Don't eat those peas!
Don't touch that bush!
Don't chew my shoes...
What IS that mush?
Eat your cookie,
Drink your drink,
Outta the toilet!
Outta the sink!
AWAY FROM THE CAT BOX,
IT'S FOR THE CAT!
(And MUST you kiss me after that???)
Yes, raising a puppy,
Is not for the lazy!
Though puppies are funny,
They're also crazy.
But don't despair,
Though toil and strife.
After 3 years, you'll get back your life!
So, let's go for "walkies",
You can "do your thing"
(And perhaps I'll get back my DIAMOND RING!)
author unknown

Dear God, please send me somebody who'll care!
I'm tired of running, I'm sick with despair.
My body is aching, it's so racked with pain,
and dear God I pray, as I run in the rain.
That someone will love me and give me a home,
a warm cozy bed and a big juicy bone.
My last owner tied me all day in the yard
Sometimes with no water, and god that was hard.
So I chewed my leash, and God I ran away.
To rummage in garbage and live as a stray.
But now God, I'm tired and hungry and cold,
and I'm so afraid that I'll never grow old.
They've chased me with sticks and hit me with stones, while I run the streets just looking for bones!
I'm not really bad, God, please help if you can,
for I have become just a "Victim of Man!"
I'm wormy dear God and I'm ridden with fleas, and all that I want is an Owner to please!
If you find one for me God, I'll try to be good,
and I won't chew their shoes, and I'll do as I should.
I'll love them, protect them and try to obey..
when they tell me to sit, to lie down or to stay!
I don't think I'll make it too long on my own,
cause I'm getting so weak and I'm so all alone.
Each night as I sleep in the bushes I cry,
cause I'm so afraid God, that I'm gonna die.
And I've got so much love and devotion to give,
that I should be given a new chance to live!
So dear God, please answer my prayer,
and send me someone who will REALLY care..
That is, dear God, if YOU'RE REALLY there!
author unknown

Bet You Can't Own Just One!

Why own a dog? There's a danger you know,
You can't own just one, for the craving will grow.
There's no doubt they're addictive, wherein lies the danger.
While living with lots, you'll grow poorer and stranger.
One dog is no trouble, and two are so funny.
The third one is easy, the fourth one's a honey.
The fifth one delightful, the sixth one's a breeze,
You find you can live with a houseful with ease.
So how 'bout another? Would you really dare?
They're really quite easy but oh, Lord the hair!
With dogs on the sofa and dogs on the bed,
And crates in the kitchen, it's no bother you've said.
They're really no trouble, their manners are great.
What's just one more dog and just one more crate?
The sofa is hairy, the windows are crusty,
The floor is all footprints, the furniture dusty.
The housekeeping suffers, but what do you care?
Who minds a few nose prints and a little more hair?
So let's keep a puppy, you can always find room,
And a little more time for the dust cloth and broom.
There's hardly a limit to the dogs you can add,
The thought of a cutback sure makes you sad.
Each one is so special, so useful, so funny.
The vet, the food bill grows larger, you owe money.
Your folks never visit, few friends come to stay,
Except other dog folks, who all live the same way.
Your lawn has now died, and your shrubs are dead too,
But your weekends are busy, you're off with your crew.
There's dog food and vitamins, training and shots.
And entries and travel and motels which cost lots.
Is it worth it, you wonder? Are you caught in a trap?
Then that favorite dog comes and climbs in your lap.
His look says you're special and you know that you will
Keep all of the critters in spite of the bill.
Some just for showing and some just to breed.
And some just for loving, they all fill a need.
But winter's a hassle, the dogs hate it too.
But they must have their walks though they're numb and you're blue.
Late evening is awful, you scream and you shout
At the dogs on the sofa who refuse to go out.
The dogs and the dog shows, the travel, the thrills,
The work and the worry, the pressure, the bills.
The whole thing seems worth it, the dogs are your life.
They're charming and funny and offset the strife.
Your life-style has changed. Things won't be the same.
Yes, those dogs are addictive and so is the dog game!!
-Author unknown

He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea.
He has told me a thousand times over that I am
his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me)
When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive.
When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile.
When I am happy, he is joy unbounded.
When I am a fool, he ignores it.
When I succeed, he brags.
Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful.
He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion.
With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace.
He has brought me understanding where before was ignorant.
His head on my knee can heal my human hurts.
His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things.
He has promised to wait for me......whenever ..wherever -- in case I need him.
And I expect I will --- as I always have.
He is just my dog.
(Gene Hill, Tears & Laughter)

I wish that someone would tell me what it is
That I've done wrong.
Why I have to stay chained up and
Left alone so long.
They seemed so glad to have me when
I came here as a pup.
There were so many things we'd do
While I was growing up.
They couldn't wait to train me as a
Companion and a friend.
And told me how they'd never fear
Being left alone again.
The Children said they'd feed me and
Brush me everyday.
They'd play with me and walk me
If I could only stay.
But now the family "Hasn't Time";
They often say I shed.
They do not want me in the house
Not even to be fed.
The children never walk me
They always say, "Not Now!"
I wish that I could please them.
Won't someone tell me how?
All I had, you see, was love.
I wish they would explain
Why they said they wanted me,
Then left me on a chain?
-anonymous

She flops gracelessly into my lap at times,
and as soft as a feather at other times.
Sometimes the growing little princess runs herself to the point of exhaustion
while other days she takes it sort of slow and easy.
On the more active days she runs out of gas
and then finds comfort holding onto me as she gets to sleep.
I often still have some work to finish,
so I let her lean on my arm to get her rest as I finish.
I know she won't really sleep soundly until I put her to bed,
so I try to hurry...

Watching her soar in her way,
so sure of her direction and what makes her full and free is a sight to behold - to cherish.
It is a gift to share these times with her.

She whispers her little secrets to me also,
whenever I am missing the obvious.
She has her ways, and looks at me so adoringly,
trusting me to care for her in my best way.
I realize now, as I may not have in the past,
how lucky I am to guide her into her freedom and fullness.

Like many parents,
I am finding myself living relative to the most gracious and
accepting little bundle of energy imaginable.
She is tender and easily harmed, and
thereby I know just how tender and gentle I am capable of being,
and how I can be firm but caring and kind to help
her become a fully happy free and living soul.

I'm fortunate to be so well loved,
and I am likewise blessed by really more than her presence.
Really, both of the dear souls see me fully through God's eyes as only they can.
They help me learn of my capacity to love and to accept, and to love myself.
I couldn't ask for more.

The best part is that they will always see me this way if only I try to show them love.
That is the way of kittens and dogs.
Author Unknown

If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life
you will always remember . . .
The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home
your young new friend.
You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed.
You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets,
or done long research in finding a breeder.
Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that
silly looking mutt in a shelter --
simply because something in its eyes reached your heart.
But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it
explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room -- and when
you feel it brush against you for the first time -- it instills a feeling of
pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.
The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later.
It will be a day like any other.
Routine and unexceptional.
But, for a surprising instant,
you will look at your long-time friend and see age where you once saw youth.
You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy.
And you will see sleep when you once saw activity.
So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet --
and you may add a pill or two to her food.
And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself,
which bodes of a coming emptiness.
And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.
And on this day -- if your friend and whatever higher being you believe
in have not decided for you,
then you will be faced with making a decision of your own --
on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit.
But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you --
you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night.
If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must.
And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of
family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you.
But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished
through the many joy-filled years,
you may find that a soul --
a bit smaller in size than your own --
seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come.
And at moments when you least expect
anything out of the ordinary to happen,
you may feel something brush against your leg -- very, very lightly.
And looking down at the place where your dear,
perhaps dearest, friend used to lie --
you will remember those three significant days.
The memory will most likely to be painful, and leave an ache in your heart
. As time passes the ache will come and go as if it has a life of its own.
You will both reject it and it, and it may confuse you.
If you reject it, it will depress you.
If you embrace it, it will deepen you.
Either way, it will still be an ache.
But there will be, I assure you,
a fourth day when --
along with the memory of your pet --
and piercing through the heaviness in your heart
- -- there will come a realization that belongs only to you.
It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost.
This realization takes the form of a Living Love --
like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this
Love will remain and grow -- and be there for us to remember.
It is a love we have earned.
It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go.
And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live.
It is a Love which is ours alone.
And until we ourselves leave,
perhaps to join our Beloved Pets --
it is a Love we will always possess. 

by Martin Scot Kosins

It's not so much the running as the pacing back and forth before the door, the scratching of paint, fleas that sting with a humiliating smallness. And what of dreams? Running in one's sleep, small whimpers, tight leashes leading nowhere very far at all. Circles, circles, three times always nose to the ground; holding still for that absent-minded pat, hopelessly affectionate despite sudden inclinations. Run to the end of the yard and I may yet jump the fence.