I am Your Dog
Written by: Karen Shirk 5/25/01
Dedicated to Ben, "My Dog"

Through gated fence I see you,
sad eyes begging, calling to me.
"I am your dog…"
echo's softly through my mind.
Drawn, I go, through no choice of mine
"I am your dog…"
louder still I hear.
Closer I stare into your eyes,
my soul exposed to all that is there, within you.
"I am your dog…"
as if you were there, in my mind.
Yet, how? Now I am close enough to see.
I see all that I wish not to see.
I see the filth, the matted dirty hair,
the pain so open before me,
pouring from a body so thin it is almost not there.
"I am your dog…"
screams loud within me.
All that is you has entered my very being
and I feel your pain, your fear, your grief,
your willingness to reach out to me, to love, to care.
Gently now you lick my fingers wrapped around the fence.
As I stand before you, our eyes locked.
"I am but one person,
What can I do?"
"I am your dog…."
So soft, so gentle, wrapping like a warm spring day
around my very being.
"As you would wish for yours,"
was all I heard,
"As you would wish for yours."