By Oliver Cocks
We sit with our scruffy woofer
A lovely puppy
Its choc fudge eyes widen at us,
and it shakes its tail, and gently licks us
Light twinkles from our wedding rings,
as we pat him so many times
We sit in a park, kissing now and then,
fitting hands together, and often beaming
at our eyes, and his eyes
He is our sole child
Near us, there are children,
who play many kinds of games,
as grownups watch them, smiling,
or talk to fellow grownups,
amid trees, grass, and a playground
We wept before
Our friend’s dad farewelled his body,
to soar to his new home,
a month before, and our friend
has sobbed and sighed every day since
Both our parents still dwell on this globe
We can only ponder
what’s it’s like for our kind friend
Who’s laughed alongside us,
since we first linked at university,
who came to our wedding,
a year before, and never fusses
when we’re late, every catch-up
Who stood close to us when
we brought home our pup,
after we paid for him, small and bald
We saw him, penned in the pet store,
and there was no other possibility
We both know how killing
this is for our friend, who sobbed
and shuddered, when we went
go-karting the other day
He first ceased to speak at all,
then did, but only murmurs
And we both know, as we gaze,
at our eyes, and at our baby
We arrive at our friend’s small home,
only ten minutes following
We must invite him to play
with our scruffy child
We’ll whisk him to the park,
at least thrice a week,
let him join our outings,
help him deepen his bond
with our loyal child
Only he can let himself revive,
but this will be the needed love,
the light that will show him the road back
We’ll admit him into our family,
and resurrect him with our child’s care,
with our puppy’s heartfelt woofs
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