IN MEMORIUM...LOYAL BELLADONNA, OUR BLACK MOUTH CUR

a tribute to a much loved companion

IN MEMORIUM

LOYAL BELLADONNA, OUR BLACK MOUTH CUR

i was looking for a guard dog and companion
shortly after my husband passed...
i went to the local humane society shelter
and wandered the isles...
there were many dogs in need of love and a home,
but one a beautiful golden b***h
with cleopatra lined eyes
and a sad black smile
caught my eye...
such a pleading and painful expression,
almost as if she was afraid to ask,
certain, somehow, that she would again fail to please a human...
i could not leave her there
behind the chain link on the concrete floor,
i took her home,
they had told me they called her”red”
but one look and my daughter pronounced her to be “bella”,
“belladonna”,
our beautiful lady,
she was our companion and protector for 15 years,
we lost her to cancer
on new years day 2012
yet every night she is with me,
her spirit still sleeps on the rug by my bed,
i feel her beside me when i prepare to face the day,
she is the latest in my legion of spirit companions,
equines and canines, who gave me love with out question,
help and friendship through every hardship and joy in my long life...
i wonder,
do humans ever give so completely and freely of their love and devotion?
i promise you my sweet “belladonna”
and, the legion you have joined,
i will try to be worthy of your love so deeply and freely given...