poems for the loss of our babies, Forest Ostrander [good beach reads .TXT] 📗

allowed? How come that fellow down the road said they weren't?"

"That was the Devil and he gets all the people who are willing to give up a life long companion for a comfortable place to stay. They soon find out their mistake, but then it's too late. The dogs come here, the fickle people stay there. GOD wouldn't allow dogs to be banned from Heaven. After all, HE created them to be man's companions in life, why would he separate them in death?"

Author Unknown

Erica's Song

Go Joyously into the spirit and the summerland of youth,
Glory once again in your strength. Run free amid the wildflowers.
Sniff the tantalizing smells among the wooded tangles of the forest.
Sleep in the warm sun beside murmuring brooks. And when you weary of the green hills and fields of Rainbow Bridge, follow the bright strand- forged of love which connects us.
It leads to the garden of my soul where a warm welcome always awaits your coming..


Copyright © Lisa Singer 1995

FROM FRIEND TO FRIEND

You're giving me a special gift,
So sorrowfully endowed,
And through these last few cherished days,
Your courage makes me proud.


But really, love is knowing
When your best friend is in pain,
And understanding earthly acts
Will only be in vain.


So looking deep into your eyes,
Beyond, into your soul,
I see in you the magic, that will
Once more make me whole.


The strength that you possess,
Is why I look to you today,
To do this thing that must be done,
For it's the only way.


That strength is why I've followed you,
And chose you as my friend,
And why I've loved you all these years...
My partner 'til the end.


Please, understand just what this gift,
You're giving, means to me,
It gives me back the strength I've lost,
And all my dignity.


You take a stand on my behalf,
For that is what friends do.
And know that what you do is right,
For I believe it too.


So one last time, I breathe your scent,
And through your hand I feel,
The courage that's within you,
To now grant me this appeal.


Cut the leash that holds me here,
Dear friend, and let me run,
Once more a strong and steady dog,
My pain and struggle done.


And don't despair my passing,
For I won't be far away,
Forever here, within your heart,
And memory I'll stay.


I'll be there watching over you,
Your ever faithful friend,
And in your memories I'll run,
...a young dog once again.


In Memory of Asta, Feb. 1997
(c) Karen Clouston


HEAVEN'S DOGGY-DOOR

My best friend closed his eyes last night,
As his head was in my hand.
The Doctors said he was in pain,
And it was hard for him to stand.


The thoughts that scurried through my head,
As I cradled him in my arms.
Were of his younger, puppy years,
And OH...his many charms.


Today, there was no gentle nudge
With an intense "I love you gaze",
Only a heart thats filled with tears
Remembering our joy filled days.


But an Angel just appeared to me,
And he said, "You should cry no more,
GOD also loves our canine friends,
HE's installed a 'doggy-door"!


jan cooper '95


I AM NOT THERE

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.

I ONLY WANTED YOU

They say memories are golden
well maybe that is true.
I never wanted memories,
I only wanted you.

A million times I needed you,
a million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you
you never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a place
no one could ever fill.

If tears could build a stairway
and heartache make a lane,
I'd walk the path to heaven
and bring you back again.

Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.

Author unknown


... if he wakes in Your arms...
by R. A. S.


I can hardly see through my tears... today I sent my best friend of years
and years somewhere he had to go, where pain and sickness he won't have to know.
He's been with me ever since he was a pup... today I've had to give him up.
He was sick, we both knew it and I wouldn't put him through it.

Thinking back to the day my wife brought him, I told her then that I didn't want him...
"Noise and mess and bills to pay!" - I can't believe I felt that way.
Didn't know that in the end, he would be my dearest friend.
Didn't know that he would be the greatest gift that came to me.

How did one like me deserve a friend who wanted just to serve?
What was there that made him love me, with nobody else above me?
When I looked into his eyes, never did he criticize,
never did he hold a grudge, never did he try to judge.

Recently, an anxious day. "How come you don't want to play?"
Took him to the vet to see what might be wrong with my "puppy".
Worse by far than I expected, fatal illness was detected.
Nothing much that we could do but keep him comfy til he's through.

Back at home I tried to tell him of the bad luck that befell him
All I could see in his eyes was wondering why his master cries.
I don't think he understood - his eyes just asked "Wasn't I good?"
"How come now I make you sad? Let me kiss and hug you, dad!"

Two last weeks I had to try to find a way to say goodbye.
In that time I told him more than I ever had before
just how much I loved my pup, how it hurt to give him up.
How though gone, he'd always be inside my heart, a part of me.

Then today was no mistaking, I made the decision, my heart was breaking.
I called and asked the vet to come by - I didn't have to tell him why.
He arrived in awhile and asked "Are you ready?" I sighed, I nodded, I felt so unsteady.
Got down on the floor by my boy who was dying, and I just didn't care if the vet saw me crying.

As my pup slipped away, the last things he felt were the kisses and hugs of his master who knelt
On that "blankie" beside him to bid him goodbye, who had just one more minute to tell him, to try
to say thanks to his boy for a lifetime of love.... "Dear God, let me see him in heaven above!
But for now Lord, please hold him, watch over his rest... if he wakes in Your arms tell him I love him best."


Please keep this poem in its entirety and attribute it to the author if you download it and use it in any way. Thank you.
Copyright © 1996 by R. A. S.

"In the Candle's Glow"

Warm light coming from far below,
Twinkling, sparkling is the candle's glow.
All is well up on the ridge,
The place we know as Rainbow Bridge.

Furbabies sleeping in heaven's light,
Tended by candles in the night.
Peaceful dreams be theirs to keep,
As they slumber in this night so deep.

Hearts on earth that miss them so,
Take comfort in the candle's glow.
Watching for them in skies above,
Bound eternally by a cord of love.

Laura Hickman

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF AN EXTREMELY DISTINGUISHED DOG

by Eugene O'Neill

I, SILVERDENE EMBLEM O'NEILL (familiarly known to my family, friends, and acquaintances as Blemie), because the burden of my years and infirmities is heavy upon me, and I realize the end of my life is near, do hereby bury my last will and testament in the mind of my Master. He will not know it is there until after I am dead. Then, remembering me in his loneliness, he will suddenly know of this testament, and I ask him then to inscribe it as a memorial to me.

I have little in the way of material things to leave. Dogs are wiser than men. They do not set great store upon things. They do not waste their days hoarding property. They do not ruin their sleep worrying about how to keep the objects they have, and to obtain the objects they have not. There is nothing of value I have to bequeath except my love and my faith. These I leave to all those who have loved me, to my Master and Mistress, who I know will mourn me most, to Freeman who has been so good to me, to Cyn and Roy and Willie and Naomi and -- But if I should list all those who have loved me, it would force my Master to write a book. Perhaps it is vain of me to boast when I am so near death, which returns all beasts and vanities to dust, but I have always been an extremely lovable dog.

I ask my Master and Mistress to remember me always, but not to grieve for me too long. In my life I have tried to be a comfort to them in time of sorrow, and a reason for added joy in their happiness. It is painful for me to think that even in death I should cause them pain. Let them remember that while no dog has ever had a happier life (and this I owe to their love and care for me), now that I have grown blind and deaf and lame, and even my sense of smell fails me so that a rabbit could be right under my nose and I might not know, my pride has sunk to a sick, bewildered humiliation. I feel life is taunting me with having over-lingered my welcome. It is time I said good-bye, before I become too sick a burden on myself and on those who love me. It will be sorrow to leave them, but not a sorrow to die. Dogs do not fear death as men do. We accept it as part of life, not as something alien and terrible which destroys life. What may come after death, who knows? I would like to believe with those my fellow Dalmatians who are devote Mohammedans, that there is a Paradise where