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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