The Abandoned Pet
By Audrey Wright-Anderson
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

The Abandoned Pet
By Audrey Wright-Anderson

My Life is so much different from
     The way it was before;
I’m hungry and it’s cold out:
     My body’s stiff and sore.

Nobody puts a bowl down
     I get kicks and rocks instead.
I wander in the streets all day,
     The cold ground is my bed.

Today a child was petting me
     Until his mother came.
I knew I’d have to leave because
     She called me that new name

“Don’t touch that Dirty Stray,” she said,
     “Or it will want to stay.”
The little boy went in the house
     And I just walked away.

They say that God created us,
     But didn’t give us souls.
Is that the reason it’s okay
     That no one puts down bowls?

I wish I weren’t so hungry---
     So hungry that I ache.
I wish someone would take me in
     For Mercy’s sake---for Mercy’s sake.

Audrey Wright-Anderson (1930–2008)

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