Friends

He smiled and laughed as the children beamed.
They were glad of the presents he gave them, it seemed.
They romped and played with him in the fields,
And jumped on the truck, the truck with old wheels.
Another summer, another year has gone by.
The children come less, though he doesn’t know why.
They do not have time for the old games he played.
Their visits are short, their arrivals delayed.
Each year they come less, until hardly at all.
He is found in his room, his one friend- the gray wall.
This year he waited, he is waiting quietly still.
They forget- he is sad, and has become very ill.
His life is wasted, his jewels are gone.
The elderly call for him won’t be long.
He starts down the road to find the way
To the shelter, where he’ll be to the end of his days.
A dog, down the same road, has been shunned from his home,
By the ones he protected, who he called his own.
He’s served and loved and stayed by their side.
And now is rejected, in none to confide.
Bruised and battered, weak from hunger,
Needful of the roof he was once welcomed under,
Cold and wet from Nature’s cruel hand-
His pains are many, too great a demand.
He limps down the road, each step is a labor.
A breath brings him anguish, sharp as a saber.
Life seems empty, with no one to love.
Blue skies are gray, no sunshine above.
And so the outcasts toward each other go,
Seeing life as a waste; the earth a great foe.
Both gave for nothing, and showed their good will.
Of the earth and its kind, they’ve had their fill.
The old man looks up and sees the poor dog,
Who is lain on the ground, broken and robbed.
The dog, who has fallen, void of warmth and love,
Looks tiredly up at the kind face above.
The old man helps him, and raises him to stand,
And pats his head, the dog licks his hand.
Broken hearts are mended, together they go home.
And never again will they feel all alone.