Miley and I walk down the street
      ignoring the cannabis scented clouds:
      she stops – sniffing every urinated message,
      occasionally leaving a reply.

My dog passes the laughing gas canisters,
    polystyrene boxes and broken glass
    searching for discarded bones, bread and tissue paper
      to eat, rip or claw.

We stroll through the park
      once yellow smiling daffodils grin brown and withered.
Squirrels multiply – fecund rats in the trees,
      Miley too slow to control the rodent population.

Despite urban desolation
      look harder:
        see the green canopy
            grass, birds,
              sometimes even a butterfly.

The world isn’t dead –
      we still have time.

My heart yearns for her to live the longest of days,
I pine to have her a year longer.
My sweet Missy,
The one I have guided through youth and the one I will guide through her final most fragile days.

I can see the light in her eyes grow dim with dull torpor.
I can feel the sluggish sense of enervation in her spirit,
yet at every chance I get,
I plead to god for another hour,
Another day,
Another month,
Another year.

I know that the final countdown is set.
The air is filled with the slightest tinge of melancholy.
And with every weary glance,
Our eyes meet one another.
And with every placid breath
Words that only a dog and its owner can understand are spoken.

Yet as the days grow dull and the air runs thin,
New life is approaching.
As the spring flowers bloom.
And if she is to depart soon,
Hopefully, she may be reborn into a new life.
And her soul and breath will take in renewed unsullied life energy.

And maybe we will meet again.

They say that with death comes life,
And I've come to accept that we may not have much time together on this earth.
But maybe,
just maybe,

we will meet again.

One year ago tonight, I had to watch as your life came to an end.
It was sad to witness your demise and I felt so much pain within.
You died in 2023 on the 9th of December.
You'll be a dog who I'll always remember.
When I saw you die, it was sad to know that you would have no tomorrow.
Each and every person who has lost a dog can understand my sorrow.
Last year, you didn't live long enough to see Christmas arrive.
Rest In Peace, Hazel, I certainly am sorry that you didn't survive.

I don’t wanna talk right now.
I just wanna watch TV
I’ll stay in the pool and drown.
So I don’t have to watch you leave.
And I’ll be in denial for at least a little while
What about the plans we made?

The dog learns to bark

differently, practising --


the art of singing.

cackle hack drab dog
outer  to the flames of the campfire
                                                cracklin­g

Abandoned yet ignorant to unfairness,
I smiled on every people that passed by,
and all I get is a ticket to die,
where is the love and what they call kindness?

I was left to rot and was seen as a pest,
People hurt me when all I wanted was love,
I have no shelter, yet my head smiles above,
looking forward for another day like its a test.

They found me, raised me and fed to the fullest
I was happy until they took me away
I became stressed, yearning for a loving caress
The last thing I wished was to stay.

They sent me to the unknown,
ignorant and helpless,
my heart beats fast as my sorrow had grown,
all I needed was love yet they see me less.

A research instrument only to die in space,
as I re-entered I'm burning all over the place,
as I die my only wish was another life,
a life that will give me love and survive.

you are mans best friend
but your life seems to have an early end
i saw you yesterday playing with your pack
stranger gave you their uneaten snacks

you were the smallest thing i ever saw
every girl gave you an awww
you were licking my shoes
the next day your life was cut too loose

i will see you in heaven
you came from your mother
but were sent away in a plastic bag