My happiness is
Four-legged, wrapped in fur
When she's with me
All my sorrow gets blur

After a rough day
When I get home,  in complete despair
A wagging tail waits for me
to give me hope,  to wipe off any tears

She waits for me patiently
And never does she complain
When she jumps and kisses my face
She erases all the pain

Early In the morning
when coming out of bed seems so dreadful
She is there to wake me up
with a heart,  so joyous so playful

I encounter unconditional love
Every now and then,
Here I feel desolated
Here I go to her again !!!

Damaged goods,
Walking through the hoods
Crying non-understable tears
A lot of hesitation, fear of love
And affection, a happy dispositon
But a lot of self protection,
Pushes away those who would love to
See the puppy happy

So he finds shelter, a cardboard box this night
It's not raining thankfully so he sleeps tight
He curls up and sleeps, as soundly as he can
Then up he gets and away from another bad human he ran
Then the fleas, and the mange became even harder to bear,
He began to wonder if anyone was out there

Then, a human! In a coat so shiny, he didnt know where he was
He didn't feel the fleas anymore, and his stomach was full with lunch
He looked up, apprehensive but still grateful
And a nurse kept petting him and snuggling him while he was on the table...

To be continued

Your tail is too curly, Just like a pig.
Your Manners are poor and you’re not very big.
Your legs are too short and they bend the wrong way.
You snore in your bed at the end of the day.

Your ears are too pointy, you look like a bat.
You won’t wear a coat or a jumper or hat.
Your fur is unruly it’s always in knots.
You will roll on a dead thing, just after it rots.

Your body is long, Like Gnashers, you’re tatty,
But you don’t like the brush and can get a bit ratty.
You grumble and swear if your dinner is late.
Not a morsel of food will be left on your plate.

Your eyes, they are covered you can’t see through your fur.
You zoom through the house til you’re only a blur.
Your temper is firey, you are quick to mouth off.
You can pull on your lead til you splutter and cough.

Your skittish outside when the night starts to fall.
You sometimes won’t ‘leave it’ or ‘come’ when I call.
You dance in the water no matter how *****.
You’re a little bit strange and your habits are quirky.

Curled like a coil, that tail starts to wiggle.
and it fills me with joy that bursts out in a  giggle.
Your short legs are strong, you can run very fast.
And you snore cos you learned, you can trust us, at last.

When your bat ears point  high and your eyes fill with light,
I know you’ve heard Dad, coming home for the night
When you are smelly, you play in the bath.
Jumping and splashing and making me laugh.

Your body’s just right to fit curled  on my knee.
Your fur’s  beautifully grey and as soft as can be.
Whatever we feed you, we know you will finish.
You eat all your meat and even your spinach.


When your fur’s brushed away, your eyes, black like coal,
glisten and shine like your beautiful  soul.
The barking’s  all bluster, but you'd die for your pack.
The noise making up, for the stature you lack.

You snuggle inside when the night starts to fall
and mostly you ‘leave it’ and ‘come’ when I call.
My terrier angel, My sweet contradiction,
Eclectic and beautiful, flawed, to perfection

The Newfounlander,
Wrapped in her blanket,
Was laid behind the new shed.
The hole bled with water.
She rose as Lazarus,
Caked with dirt.
The shovel mixed her in with earth.
A Christian marker denoted the place
Where lovely Ete lay.

But the girls were coming home,
Unaware of the interment;
Katie asked George to dig,
But George had been a farm boy,
So Katie manned the *****.
She was bloated,
Washed and brushed;
Then viewed on her clean blanket.
The shovel was in the shed.
Crazy Katie took the family
To the Vet's for cremation.
George followed silently,
With ***** boots and blisters,
And not a whisper
To the sisters
That Mom's gone dog-gone mind.

You were not meant to be anymore, dear friend
because of selfish human error.
I saw the precious life in you, Tyrell,
as did so many others who granted you
a stay of execution.
You were reborn into my life and
I am forever changed by your
angelic spirit.

Your "imperfections" were a delight to me,
your courage and tenacity inspired and endeared my soul.
Everyday I watched you thankfully enjoying
your much deserved second chance at life -
the one thing you were promised, just as I was,
in the contract of being born.
I miss you, sweet boy.

The ache of your absence runs deep,
and there isn't a day that goes by where
I don't smile and giggle at the thought of you.
Your unabashed gracelessness, your ability
to fiercely live in each moment, and your lovely tenderness.
Some dogs wanted to play ball, all you desired
was to be coddled and brushed.

Somewhere over the rainbow bridge,
I see you romping around in tall green grasses,
tongue flapping, eyes (now two!) sparkling with wonder,
while butterflies gleefully chase you in child-like play.
You shine so brightly, free of all the ties that bound you
as an unwanted canine in a world full of snakes.

You came into my life like a whirlwind, but
left too soon, like a whisper.
I am forever indebted to you for your
unconditional love, and for
showing me how deeply I'm capable
of loving another, that my heart isn't only
made of broken mirrors and lost opportunities.

You grew my heart full, and in doing so
you made me a better, more loving, and more
compassionate human being in a world gone mad.
I bow to your divinity, sweet Ty.
Dog is God.

In the dark I sat perched on his chest
like a house cat that craved attention

Purring soft sounds into the night
as the neighborhood around stirred in silence

I curled up into a ball and tucked my paws
under my chin to rest for the night

yet the domestic cat must still have enemies
that they join the mice in running from

the dogs barked and I felt the hair on my neck
come to a standing position

Hiding places seemed scarce as i darted around
the room desperate for high ground as they neared

my nose alerted me that they were close-
outside the bedroom door I heard them growl with hunger

a door of such no match for the beasts of the night
and with vulnerability i watched them bound towards me

teeth bared, claws ready,  alarm in my chest
i could feel their breathe on my face

and with panic i awoke to find not a cat nor a dog
but a boy who thought he was a man

i was perched on his chest like a lazy house cat
resting in the sun who held not one single worry

As i looked around the room no danger was ever present
but one can only be naive once

this time i would be ready with a twitch of a hand
to claw my way out of danger
with any foe who should come for me

You remember Byron from other poems
I told you about. You can look them up
Later. Most of what I said was true
(Same as Twain -  Mark, not Shania).
When I arrived for my visit, Byron's good friend,
Clive, was there, holding a cold one in his country hands,
Before the wood stove in Byron's man-cave.
They were talking about welding joints,
Or the pitch of a roof frame, or something
I know ******* squat about.
Both men, uneducated, but clever as hell.
Without writing down a measurement,
Or drawing a sketch,
Could reproduce the Taj Mahal.
Like Plato's cave dwellers, they just see it, make it, nail it.
I brought up the problems my daughter is having
With her toy poodle,
And Clive joined in about his disobedient
Great Dane. I'll call him Laertes,
Though his real name is Butch.
Clive says Laertes never stops barking,
Shock collars don't work.
Treats were to no avail.
Obedience School only worked at school.
I could see Byron's hand on his chin,
Looking off and up to his left,
Out the window over the wood stove:
Have you tried speaking Danish to him, asked Byron.
Enough said.