A Dogs Soul

                            Every dog must have a soul
                             Somewhere deep inside
                         Where all his hurts and grievances
                            Are buried with his pride.
                        Where he decides the good and bad,
                          The wrong way from the right,
                        And where his judgement carefully
                            Is hidden from our sight.
                          A dog must have a secret place
                           Where every thought abides,
                         A sort of close acquaintance that
                            He trusts in and confides.
                          And when accused unjustly for
                            Himself, He cannot speak,
                         Rebuked, He finds within his soul
                           The comfort he must seek.
                           He'll love, tho'he is unloved,
                          And he'll serve tho'badly used,
                         And one kind word will wipe away
                           The times when he's abused.
                         Altho' his heart may break in two
                            His love will still be whole,
                          Because God gave to every dog
                             An understanding Soul!
                                Author Unknown

Winter Of Life

                     Lord, he is old and weakened,
                     He walks where he used to run,
                     In his youth he was always a happy dog,
                     Now he sleeps his days away in the sun.
                     Please make his trail mostly level
                     As he travels these last few miles,
                     Provide shade away from the heat of day
                     Where he can stop and rest for awhile.
                     If it rains let the drops be gentle,
                     If it blows let the breeze be warm,
                     Let the winter of life be kind,
                     Provide shelter and keep him from harm.
                     Please Lord, if he must suffer,
                     Give the pain and hurting to me,
                     He has been thru lifes raging waters,
                     As only a mans dog can be.
                     He doesnt deserve to be hurting,
                     He has lived a hard and long time,
                     I hope as he leaves he'll be knowing
                     Your love, as he has always known mine.
                     I raised him, Lord, from a puppy
                     We have followed some rough rocky trails,
                     Please Lord, Make this last trail gentle,
                     As he come to where love never fails.
                     Author Unknown

DOG'S DEATH

                                by John Updike
              She must have been kicked unseen or brushed by a car.
              Too young to know much, she was beginning to learn
              To use the newspapers spread on the kitchen floor
              And to win, wetting there, the words, "Good dog! Good dog!"
              We thought her shy malaise was a shot reaction.
              The autopsy disclosed a rupture in her liver.
              As we teased her with play, blood was filling her skin
              And her heart was learning to lie down forever.
              Monday morning, as the children were noisily fed
              And sent to school, she crawled beneath the youngest's bed.
              We found her twisted and limp but still alive.
              In the car to the vet's, on my lap, she tried
              To bite my hand and died. I stroked her warm fur
              And my wife called in a voice imperious with tears.
              Though surrounded by love that would have upheld her,
              Nevertheless she sand and, stiffening, disappeared.
              Back home, we found that in the night her frame,
              Drawing near to dissolution, had endured the shame
              Of diarrhea and had dragged across the floor
              To a newspaper carelessly left there. Good dog.

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