Once I Was a Lonely Dog
By David Klein
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

Once I was a lonely dog 
Just looking for a home. 
I had no place to go, 
No one to call my own.

I wandered up and down the streets, 
in rain in heat and snow. 
I ate what ever I could find, 
I was always on the go.

My skin would itch, my feet were sore, 
My body ached with pain. 
And no one stopped to give a pat 
Or a gently say my name.

I never saw a loving glance, 
I was always on the run. 
For people thought that hurting me 
was really lots of fun.

And then one day I heard a voice 
So gentle, kind and sweet, 
And arms so soft reached down to me 
And took me off my feet.

"No one again will hurt you 
Was whispered in my ear." 
"You'll have a home to call your own 
where you will know no fear."

"You will be dry, you will be warm, 
you'll have enough to eat" 
"And rest assured that when you sleep, 
your dreams will all be sweet."

I was afraid I must admit, 
I've lived so long in fear. 
I can't remember when I let 
A human come so near.

And as she tended to my wounds 
And bathed and brushed my fur 
She told me bout the rescue group 
And what it meant to her.

She said, "We are a circle, 
A line that never ends." 
"And in the center there is you 
protected by new friends."

"And all around you are 
the ones that check the pounds, 
And those that share their home 
after you've been found."

"And all the other folk 
are searching near and far. 
"To find the perfect home for you, 
where you can be a star."

She said, "There is a family, 
that's waiting patiently, 
and pretty soon we'll find them, 
just you wait and see."

"And then they'll join our circle 
they'll help to make it grow, 
so there'll be room for more like you, 
who have no place to go."

I waited very patiently, 
The days they came and went. 
Today's the day I thought, 
my family will be sent.

Then just when I began to think 
It wasn't meant to be, 
there were people standing there 
just gazing down at me.

I knew them in a heart beat, 
I could tell they felt it too. 
They said, "We have been waiting 
for a special dog like you."

Now every night I say a prayer 
to all the gods that be. 
"Thank you for the life I live 
and all you've given me.

But most of all protect the dogs 
in the pound and on the street. 
And send a Rescue Person 
to lift them off their feet."