I Shouldn’t Have Been

I don’t understand why I was born,
My life served no purpose, just empty and torn.
I wasn’t wanted, I shouldn’t have been,
Just money to them, no thought for me then.
A few dollars more to pad their pocket,
No thought for my life nor the quality of it.
A puppy mill product, sold to a store,
Massive production, we’re shipped shore to shore.
We’re bought by people who think we’re adorable,
A toy for their kids or something more horrible!
I had feelings and needs never considered,
My body not right, I just sit and shiver.
I’m sick and in pain but my owners don’t care,
Tired of me now, tied in the yard and so scared!
Food makes me sick and waters no better.
The seizures are often, getting closer together.
No vet will be called; they won’t spend the money.
They tell the kids, “We’ll get another dog, honey”.
They watch me a minute then shut the door,
My struggle for life they seem to ignore.
“Please Lord”, I beg, “just let me be dead,
I can’t stand anymore the pain in my head!”
The Angel of Mercy I’m begging to see,
Please God, won’t You love a puppy like me?
Maybe You can explain to me why I was born
To an uncaring world with a body so torn.
There must be a reason, but is it just money?
My head hurts now and I feel so funny ----
A seizure I feel coming so strong
But this time I’m no longer alone.
My Lord say’s, “It’s time little one, come to me.
Be free from pain, rest your head on my knee.
Man is his own “victim of greed”
And many will suffer before they are freed.
For you, little one, Heaven’s gates open wide,
Forever you’ll be right here by my side.”
Kathy Henderson
9 - 1998

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I Thought I Knew

I thought I knew what loneliness meant
Until I lost one I felt Heaven sent.
Just a mixed dog of no special breed
But the love that he carried was only for me.
He shared everything that I had to share
Without him my life has become so very bare.
The bond we shared was a special kind
More than a friend, a guide for the blind.
He kept me safe from harm that would be
For he was my eyes, with him I could see.
Even at home where I should be aware
He watched over me to show how he cared.
Words can’t do justice to a dog of his kind
So special are they, the dogs for the blind.
I never saw him the way sighted folks do
But I can still feel him in ways beyond you.
To me he was beautiful, my hands told me so
As they caressed him and touched his very soul.
I thought I knew what loneliness meant
Until I lost one I know Heaven sent.
In time there’ll be another guide dog for me
To take his place, my safety to see.
He can’t take away the pain in my heart
But with him I’ll make a new start.
Kathy Henderson
2 - 1999

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I Walk Alone

We’ve walked a special walk
down life’s rocky road.
We’ve had special talks,
to you many secrets I have told.
We’ve shared all we had to share,
no better friend could I have had.
You never needed explanations,
my moods you knew from sad to glad.
With you there, I was never alone,
I’ll always remember your “welcome homes”.
I look at the path that we used to walk,
where sometimes we’d stop to just sit and talk.
For hours we’d sit and you’d just listen,
so still by my side as I told of my day.
So patient you were as I babbled on
and I knew you preferred to go run and play.
As I look down the path we used to walk,
I see you there where we sat and talked.
Even your pawprint preserved in the earth,
there to remind me of your hearts worth.
Never again will I have such a friend
and I wonder inside will my heart ever mend?
Words lost now for the pains so deep, so well honed.
To walk lifes path now means, I walk alone.
Kathy Henderson
10 - 1998

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