Can You See Them?

Have you ever just sat and looked at the clouds?
Can you see all the animals therein so proud?
It’s a heavenly sight shown only to man
And then they are gone in such a short span.
The same is so true for our pets here on loan,
Time is so short for the love we are shown.
Not many stay with us but just a few years,
Their impact is great or we wouldn’t shed tears.
They teach us so much in their short time on earth,
It’s sad that so many don’t value their worth.
Natures so beautiful if our eyes will but see
The harmony in life right before you and me.
Of all the animals man claims as a pet
It seems a dog touches our heart more than the rest.
For those who love pets and of them are so proud
And those who have lost pets with hearts crying out,
Can see in heaven’s blue and clouds billowy white
A glimpse of the animals in those clouds shining bright.
Just look and you’ll see them for a fleeting moment.
The peace in those clouds leaves us quiet, without comment.
The heavens are full of precious animals therein,
Where else would they be for they’re all Heaven sent.
Can you see them, they’re there on display to see,
A reminder to us of peace yet to be.
Kathy Henderson
3 - 1999

---

Capture the Moment

It’s a phrase sometimes used to describe an emotion
Of a scene we behold that sets our hearts into motion.
Maybe it’s a pup’s antics, so cute as he plays
Or frustrating times with no manners displayed.
Maybe the moments from a mature point of view
As your dog performs well commands given from you.
Or just times of closeness, snuggled close by your side
Content to stay in from bad weather outside.
Perhaps it’s the time that he warned you of danger
Or tested your patience provoking your anger.
And when you fell ill and in bed had to stay
Who lay by your bed and would not shoo away?
Could it be the time when you answered the phone?
Returned to your chair to find your sandwich now gone.
The culprit you saw betrayed by a lettuce leaf
Hung on a tooth, with such innocence so sweet.
What about the time he was so sick, so near death,
How he rallied his strength to see you at the vets.
Remember when you planted all those flower seeds
As he dug them behind you, he thought a good deed?
Or is it his howl that pulls at your heart
When left home alone as to work you depart.
But then there’s his joy as you enter the door,
All his bounces and barks and spins on the floor.
A lifetime of moments he’s given of himself,
Many, many moments from this little elf.
To say, capture the moment, falls so short you see,
Those moments hold years of memories for me.
And I’m still gathering those moments of joy
As I capture each moment from my special boy!
Kathy Henderson
11 - 1999

---

Eternal Greed

My hearts not into writing this day
Yet there’s so many things I need to say.
Feelings so deep they need to surface
Maybe to someone they’ll have some purpose.
I’m not young and through my life’s years,
I’ve seen so much that’s brought me to tears.
People with pets who claim to love them
Yet treat their pet badly, the pet really their victim.
Of course, there are those whose pets are so lucky
Treated like kings, their little “Fluffy”.
Wouldn’t it be nice if that were true for them all?
Then man before God could stand straight and tall!
But man is so blind he can’t see his blessings,
Our gift from God, of that there’s no guessing.
I know of no other animal on earth
Who willingly serves man with all his worth.
The handicapped they serve so happily,
In nursing homes to you’ll see them in therapy.
Guard our homes and work in rescues,
Chase away the loneliness from me and you.
So why are these blessings treated so badly,
The torture man brings, we see so sadly.
Dumps on the roads, lost, scared and confused,
Experiments in labs, puppy mill abused.
Those raised for sport then thrown away
When they can no longer compete at the end of the day.
The answer so simple for it is mans greed,
A few bucks for the pup, no care if he bleeds.
Once paid the pups yours, no guarantees
And if that pup dies, don’t come back to me!
It’s up to us to stop the support
For there’s breeders out there with good reports.
To appeal to their hearts is useless, you see,
For if they cared at all, the abuse would not be.
Stop the money, deny them their income!
Just one of the ways that we can win some.
If we work together, we will make a dent
To help those little souls to us Heaven sent.
I believe dogs were meant our companions to be,
Not vices to serve man’s eternal greed!
Kathy Henderson
10 - 1998

---

Go to more poems