September 13, 2016

 

‘Never’ arrived without any warning.

Not a hint or inkling was there.

Out of the blue, life came to a standstill,

without sense or seconds to spare.

 

Just a normal day like any other;

the same route he would always frequent.

No goodbye peck or farewell greeting,

to the other side, quick as lightning he went.

 

A lifetime of memories called on,

in that instance, when life quickly spent.

Emotion and anger reaching the surface:

All the things unsaid, but so truly meant.

 

The end – the shock of finality;

the next stage, in that second was there.

Now faced with a lifetime of solitude,

when so happy was life as a pair.

 

Two swans happily sailing together,

raising their offspring on the lake.

Until the Penn so callously taken,

leaving the Cob with new plans to make.

 

August 16, 2016

 

 

I’ll take this hour God granted me –

Three-fifty on the clock.

A call of nature awakened me.

So quiet the house, just a tick-tock.

 

I’ll take this moment every time

For ‘now’ is all that’s real.

The family safe and sleeping;

this time is mine to steal.

 

Though not for long my solitude,

as behind me gently creeps,

one who’s on my wavelength,

with four paws, a vigil keeps.

 

One who no-one else can see,

but one who’s at my core.

Who gently tempts me back to bed,

to rest my mind once more.

 

 

 

March 26, 2016

 

 

Oh Daisy, Daisy,

Daisy true.

My constant companion,

how I loved you.

 

And still do now

although you’re gone.

Oh Daisy, Daisy;

my sun that shone.

 

Oh Daisy, Daisy,

always on my mind.

Two decades of trust,

and love combined.

 

From a tiny kitten

into a cat you grew.

I knew the meaning

of your every mew.

 

Oh Daisy, Daisy,

today my heart aches.

No familiar routine,

as daylight breaks.

 

Your spirit always here;

your presence lingers on.

Of all the animals I’ve loved,

Daisy – you were number one.

 

 ( A poem for Jean)

 

Written by Harriet Blackbury.

September 2015

 

 

March 25, 2016

 

 

And rich green pastures seen all around,

thankfully, by climate change unaffected.

And Easter goslings on view leaving the nest –

the cutest one with a white vest detected.

 

And around the corner, the same black lab,

still sat on his trampoline, smelling the air;

a bit of a celebrity, though quite unaware.

His bold head thrown back, without a care!

 

And young lambs happily gambolling

beneath the Cotswold Hills,

and the Racing fraternity still talking,

of this years Festival thrills.

 

 

 

 

October 7, 2015

 

 

I haven’t looked

but I know he’s there.

I sense his presence;

his out sprawled legs

ready to sprint off,

stopping my heart

in an instance.

 

I sit and wait; he

knows I’m there.

He senses my presence.

My body shakes.

I have a plan, and leave

the room to find the

death weapon.

 

When I return – he’s gone!

and I am left wondering

‘Was he ever there at all?’

 

 

 

October 6, 2015

 

 

And in the rat holes of dismay,

where ferrets hunt out daily prey,

and gunshots loud, cause shivered spines,

and rabbits flea their safe confines.

 

No warren, a haven, when vicious terriers

set free to instinctively act as couriers,

and naïve pheasants, at a lazy pace,

become tomorrow’s captured brace.

 

With hunters pleading ‘they were born to be dead,

whilst irate Salvationist’s see mists of red.

Who’s right?   Who’s wrong? – Life’s down to luck.

But caught in the cross-fire, limps off one lame duck!

 

And in the Badger versus Bovine debate

so much now sorted; some say too late.

Whilst those with a differing point of view,

still up in arms, as sense and reason stew.

 

So If you’re a lifelong animal lover,

then step this way, but do take cover,

for bullets flying through the air,

cannot distinguish who is there.

 

The Country fox, long since, saw some sense,

and with his cubs, headed for, the urban fence,

to a safer environment, he felt was right;

snuggling up in a wheelie bin for the night!

 

 

 

 

August 25, 2015

 

 

By day, the mind quite occupied;

a list of things to do.

So vital, now forgetful;

another hour lived through.

 

By night, the mind awakened;

two cats at war, do howl.

The feral one, an interloper,

depositing contents of it’s bowel.

 

By day, the mind recalls

the disturbed sleep of the night,

and sees outside the window,

rabbit entrails – what a sight!

 

By night, the mind remembers,

to lock the cat indoors;

keeping riots to a minimum,

in the hope of cleaner floors.

 

 

May 19, 2015

 

 

She knew when to bark.

She knew when to cry.

She knew when to comfort.

She knew when to sigh.

 

She gave us her best years,

did our trusted lass,

and repaid us with loyalty;

our darling had class.

 

From the day she was rescued,

until the day that she died,

she never put a paw wrong;

she was our joy and pride.

 

She knew when to play.

She knew when to protect.

What comfort at the pet cemetery;

her memory to respect.

 

The mainstay of our family,

was our border collie cross.

Her passing, devastating;

heavens gain was our loss.

 

 

 

May 7, 2015

 

 

Oh, for the sound

of Fortisimo!

His voice at a screech;

he sure let me know,

when he was lonely,

or tired of being ignored.

When in need of human affection,

oh how he yelled and implored.

 

Oh for the sound

of Fortisimo!

I’m half the person I was

as he probably knows.

I could win the Lotto,

that had rolled many a week,

and not feel as happy

as when his love I would seek.

 

Oh for the sound

of Fortisimo!

That little Siamese bastard,

just won’t let go

of my stolen heartstrings,

my mind, and each thought.

But my family would leave home,

if another I bought!

 

 

February 26, 2015

 

 

When Bimbo Barker

was around,

he sat with them

when grief they found.

When his family knelt

by the television,

he felt their pain;

that dog had vision.

 

That Bimbo Barker;

one cool dude,

lived in the days of

‘Get Back’ and Hey Jude’.

When Radio Caroline

was at it’s height,

he lay by their bed

throughout the night.

 

When Bimbo Barker died,

with problems in old age,

not very long after,

they turned another page.

A transition time,

that was pure hell,

until Paddy Parka

rang their bell.

 

And saw them through

the grimmest days,

with his trust and loyalty,

and loving ways.

They said Bimbo Barker

must have filled him in,

on the do’s and don’ts

of fitting in.

 

That Paddy Parka;

one understanding soul,

helped when they spun,

out of control.

Only him alone,

in this world knew,

a closely guarded secret,

that on silence grew.

 

and for a time,

all was going well;

none of them sensing,

the parting knell.

Or another transition time,

that was on it’s way,

as Paddy Parka went to heaven,

after a fatal RTA.

 

‘No more’ they said;

‘now you are wed’.

‘We’ve done our bit,

our hearts have bled’.

‘It will be hard,

but we’ll survive somehow,

and anyway, a dog,

would outlive us now’!

 

A life without a dog;

a life that was unknown,

though, they switched to cats,

as cat’s stand on their own!

Or so they thought,

with a welcoming wave,

But in no time at all,

they became their slave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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