I can't stop seeing you!

It was a beautiful day in the mountains

Fresh snow lay cool on the forest floor

Giant Sequoias pierced the winter blue

The trip was all we had hoped for, and more

 

As we drove down the mountain highway

and your Golden form came into view

pacing determinedly on the inner shoulder

it was so unexpected, this vision of you

 

A purposeful air to your quickening stride

You paced onward as our van drew near

Away from homes, far from a safe path

You were a sight, heartbreakingly dear

A shimmer golden

she is there in a column of sunlight

in the glimmering dawn of a Spring day

in the shimmer of all that is golden

by your side she will always stay

 

her spirit, drawn to your link of love

the sunny ray of your tender regard

will be with you when you are lonely

whether the times be good or hard

A wagon of love

Oh, what doth the wintry snowdrift bring?

Two puppies snug in a box of red and green

In an old rusty children's wagon of blue

Are gifts to greet this Christmas anew

The young pups gaze out over the snow

Toward the house where the windows glow

For there within, a girl and a boy

Await a promised gift of loving joy

Their treasure is adorned with a big red bow

The same used one Christmas, a long time ago

When loving parents to their children gave

Two rescued puppies, whose lives they had saved

Gifts such as these, gifts of life and of love

Are like those given to us, from the Creator above

On that first Christmas was born in the night

A gift given - a child who would show us the light

What treasure will await you, on Christmas day?

What gift from God to you, in the snow doth lay?

 

(© Kathy Pippig Harris, 2006)

*****

 

I would like to thank Kathy Pippig Harris for her kind permission to publish her poems and writings on my blog.

On frozen land we run

What happens to us when we do

what our humans wish us to?

 

Our bones have been broken

our tendons and muscles torn

We're starved to keep our weight low

and choked in the lines used to tow

 

If we don't make the cut they kill us

we are culled, even when we're pups

They do it with a shot to the head,

drag us, or club us until we're dead

honey and light and everything right

his glorious tawny coat is the silk of spun gold

the warmth of his fur is morning's first light

the sheen on his flank is that of polished amber

it's all just part of what makes him, oh so right

 

what courses through his veins are liquid sun drops

for his heart's a pulsing light pumping golden love

his eyes, soulful, are the color of honey in moonlight

and his merry spirit is blessed by the angels above

 

he is all that is good, unbridled, and set free,

there's magic in his smile and healing in his touch

this gentle being is the sun's light wrapped in fur

he who asks so very little and gives so very much

When you think of liberty think of me

When you honor the red, white, and blue

When you celebrate our nation's liberty

Think of the one who's been beside you

in spirit, in heart, in body ...

No being could be as loyal as me, for I am

your best friend, your partner ... your family

When our nation was young

I was the runner, carrying messages

in a war that would leave us undone

where brother fought beside brother.

And, alone in the face of terror

I moved through enemy lines,

as families fought one another,

my mission foremost in my mind

Tell Me Why …

does no one hold me when I cry? 

They say we are a good-natured breed,

cheerful and easy to get along with,

that to be happy there is little we need 

A place to have fun and not much more,

good food, a warm spot to sleep, and love

but I won't get that down on this floor. 

I was brought here when I was fairly young -

a gawky, healthy pup and though it's been a while

I still recall starlight and the bright, warm sun 

I remember running on grass and gazing at the sky

I had litter mates once and we would tumble and play

now there are dogs I can't see, but I hear them cry 

Homeward found

I live in a shelter, alone in a cage

With food, and a towel on which to sleep

I'm small, with spiky fur, and of kitten age

Folks come here looking for a friend to keep 

Some days others and myself are taken to a home

A place where strangers live, but each is alone

Once an old man caressed me gently, murmured and sighed

As his tears spilled to my shoulder from tightly closed eyes 

We also went where there are machines and bright lights

A big place for babies and children who are ill

As each child checked us over it was hard to stay still

To each patient was given the choice of us to pick

time for a while to forget they were sick

She cannot say good-bye

It is a comfortable little place - their home

and it is paid for, cozy, and theirs alone

Just the two of them, therein, reside

... an older lady and the aging canine

Listening to the radio, as the storm grew

tears well in her eyes, upon hearing the news

She gazes at her friend, and he regards her, too

Reporters are saying everyone must now go ...

she was to pack only what she needed from home. 

Put to life

The man and woman kept the puppies in the backyard with their mother. The father had been a free roaming mix and belonged to a neighbor. 

Six weeks after the mother gave birth to the seven pups, the couple put out signs in the front, along the road: Free Puppies. 

They had given no more attention to the dog when she was pregnant than they had before. There was nothing special about the sandy-colored mix breed in their eyes. She was valuable only to deter folks from trespassing on the couple's property. When the pups came along they were more a nuisance than anything and the couple wanted to get the puppies off their property as soon as possible.

Days and evenings folks dropped in to pick out one of the free pups. But the black and tan boy was overlooked each time. He was the largest pup. He had a long body, short legs, and a head that looked too big and disproportionate to his wiry-haired frame. And, he looked nothing like his soft-furred siblings. 

to fight

humans have taken all that in us is good

twisted and mangled it for the sickness

in a part of the world called the 'hood

 

others of our race, but not our breed

are used as bait for in-training fights

like us, they go where the humans lead

 

but it's not their nature to lunge & bite

these gentle souls immersed in violence

must live their life in terror and fright

The Great Until

Beyond a shimmering mist is another special land

A place that God created with the brush of His hand

 

A sun-washed valley, with grass-covered hills

Filled with joy for us, for before the "Great Until"

 

This place is for we who had no human kin

and those who did, but were abused - discarded on a whim

 

When we lay hurt, dying and helpless on the roadside

someone stopped, cradled us tenderly, and cried

I've been so hungry

When I was an older pup the boy where I lived would bring a bowl with a few morsels of leftover human food in it. I was so hungry I hurriedly started eating, then the boy would snicker, reach down and yank the bowl away. My tummy would rumble because I was still hungry, but I would get nothing else to eat that day.

 

At times the people who lived there brought other dogs home and we'd get our food all at the same time. I tried to eat my share fast but the other dogs were quicker and they would growl and try to shove me away from my food. I tried to fend them off with a snarl or a nip. Sometimes it worked and I got to finish my meal.

 

Most of the time I was chained to a tree and teenagers would come around kicking and teasing me.  One day my collar rotted through and the chain fell away. I was free! I got as far from that place as possible.

Clothed in fur

I have a loving heart that is clothed in fur

in mutual trust, my soul is shared with her

Her love's the shape of infinity & forever more

and she travels with me through life's every door

 

Because of her, my sorrow turns to happy tears

she banishes my stress, my grief & all my darkest fears

My beating love supports me, our link is very strong

and, I know she'll be with me, even when she's "gone"

 

My heart beats sleepily, at my feet, on the floor

Free of the sands of time in the now, after & before

she dreams of romping on a sun-drenched beach

With her, all hopes and dreams are within my reach

Chains were her prison

I was just a girl, and I had always been told

not to go near the Collie who was tied to a pole

she lived two houses down, this "forgotten" dog

out in the heat, the rain, and the cold, cold fog

 

I passed her each day when I'd walk to school

and she was always alone, so I broke that rule

like the Lassie on TV, she was beautiful to me

but as I drew nearer, her fear was easy to see

 

So I held out my hand, allowing her to catch my scent

there was pain in her face, hurting me was not her intent

but when I reached her, uncertainty flashed in her eyes and she bit

As pain blossomed in my palm, my knees buckled and I had to sit