An elderly lady that I visited recently when her beloved greyhound reached the end of his life has been writing poetry to help her deal with her grief. I loved her poem, so have gained permission to reproduce it here for you...
Only a Dog
"Oh my! Are you grieving still?" you say,
As you shake your head and turn away.
I catch your words, as you let them fall....
"Dear me, twas only a dog, after all."
I let them go, try not to mind
You do not mean to be unkind
It's very clear you've never known
That lifetime - Love to call you own.
Not comforted or warmed or blest
With canine-care to grace your nest
Been welcomed by a waggy tail
Had toothmarks decorate the mail.
You've never watched a dreaming paw
Beating time to a woofly snore
Or felt the weights of a loving sigh
Contentedly pressed against your thigh.
Never rubbed away your tears
On sympathetic, silky ears.
Nor yet endured a squeaky bone.
So there's no way you could have known....
All things are not as first they seem
Truth oft hides within a dream.
A Prince may once have been a frog,
And there's no such thing as "Only a Dog".
Tricia Sturgeon, Mundesley, Norfolk.
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