Ellie the Shepherd
I used to pat each nose as I'd walk by their cage
It just seemed like fate, that our brown eyes engaged...
Silently begging for her turn to play
A perky-eared Shepherd was brought in that day.
This once I would start at the end of the line
And leash this girl up for a little play time.
Happy to have me, she led me outside...
A graveyard for sticks and old balls that had died.
She danced in delight with each toss of a toy
Then trotting quite proudly with one chewed-up joy...
She'd rear-up and drop it; stare in my eyes,
Dare me to take it: I would; to her surprise.
Her soft graceful beauty, unmatched in mid-flight
Pierced through the armor, I'd laced-up so tight.
The long dog less months of my mourning would end...
Here was my heart, my new life; my best friend.
She was showing-off now, attempting to cram
Two more balls in her mouth, as she bumbled and ran...
She managed to do it...looked to me for applause
Laughing instead; I grabbed her sweet paws...
And we danced, and we ran, and we almost lost the day,
But the others were waiting for their turn to play.
So I rallied her up, and took her inside...
There were tears in her eyes; I think we both cried.
Those shiny white teeth and the spit on her nose,
The look of pure trust, only a dog-lover knows...
I hated to leave her that night at the Pound,
I stopped in mid-stride, and almost turned around...
I had promised "tomorrow we'll go 'home' to play"...
Labeled 'Aggressive', she was killed that same day.
About this poem
Before the onset of 'No Kill', this type of thing happened often in our local 'shelters'. I became heavily invested in the 'No Kill Movement'...partly as a result of incidents exactly like this and was actually able to make a difference. Thank-you 'Ellie'. You're right here in my heart.
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Written on February 15, 2023
Submitted by lovingempath on February 15, 2023
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 86 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | XXAA XXBB CCDD EEFF XXGG AABB HHII AA |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
| Characters | 1,479 |
| Words | 308 |
| Stanzas | 8 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2 |
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"Ellie the Shepherd" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/153147/ellie-the-shepherd>.
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