Walk With An Old Dog

by Gayl Jokiel

Because you will not be forever
Hope against time though I may
I paint your picture in my memory
Eyes blue with age, muzzle gone gray.

Because you walked with me in Springtime
Puppy-clumsy, running free
As you grew, we grew together
You became a part of me.

Because you shared with me my sorrows
Not understanding – simply

Laika once slept beneath the city dust, nameless and unowned; Félicette was plucked from alley shadows, and they learned that being chosen was not the same as being cherished.

Perhaps that is the human art — to adore only what can be pocketed, what can bear a collar, a price, a purpose. The stray is invisible until it kneels. The wild is beautiful

Rainbow Bridge by Anonymous

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm