"He left no
relatives", they said, "He didn't have a friend
Who knew about
his sorry plight - was with him at the end!"
And so they
raked the stove fires out, and closed the old shack door,
For grouchy,
crusty old Tom Dare would open it no more.
Then each went
to his own home fires, forgot the lonely shack,
And not a soul
was near to see, an old form stumble back
And crouch,
sad-eyed, beside the door, his bony length stretched flat.
He waited for
his master's voice, his friendly little pat.
Days had been
lean for old Tom Dare, not food enough for two
But old Tom
whispered to his dog, "I'll share along with you,
Since Jennie
went away from us, there's been no one to care
No one but you
to give a thought, for lonely old Tom Dare."
And so the two
of them had shared, if it be feast or fast
That morning
Rover had a bone - it was their very last.
And there was
nothing left for Tom - it didn't matter so
Because he lay
upon his bed, and knew that he must go.
The careless
villagers passed by, as they were pleasure-bound,
But none of them
took time to see, the faithful, hungry hound.
Too tired and
true to leave his post, he stayed there to the end
And folks had
said of old Tom Dare, "He didn't have a friend!"
The days have
passed, but no one stops, of all that come and go
Old Rover lies
beside the door, half-hidden in the snow.
I know that old
Tom had a friend, a loyal friend, because
Today I found
old Rover dead, the bone between his paws.
(Marty Hale)
No comments:
Post a Comment