Rescued Dog
By Arlene Pace

    Once I was a lonely dog,
    Just looking for a home.
    I had no place to go,
    No one to call my own.
    I wandered up and down the streets,
    in rain in heat and snow.
    I ate whatever I could find,
    I was always on the go.
    My skin would itch, my feet were sore,
    My body ached with pain.
    And no one stopped to give a pat
    Or to gently say my name.
    I never saw a loving glance,
    I was always on the run.
    For people thought that hurting me
    was really lots of fun.
    And then one day I heard a voice
    So gentle, kind and sweet,
    And arms so soft reached down to me
    And took me off my feet.
    "No one again will hurt you
    Was whispered in my ear."
    "You'll have a home to call your own
    where you will know no fear."
    "You will be dry, you will be warm,
    you'll have enough to eat."
    "And rest assured that when you sleep,
    your dreams will all be sweet."
    I was afraid I must admit,
    I've lived so long in fear.
    I can't remember when I let
    A human came so near.
    And as she tended to my wounds
    And bathed and brushed my fur
    She told me about the rescue group
    And what it meant to her.
    She said, "We are a circle,
    A line that never ends".
    "And in the center there is you
    protected by new friends".

    "And all around you are
    the ones that check the pounds,
    And those that share their home
    after you've been found".
    "And all the other folk
    are searching near and far.
    "To find the perfect home for you,
    where you can be a star".
    She said, "There is a family,
    that's waiting patiently,
    and pretty soon we'll find them,
    just you wait and see".
    "And then they'll join our circle
    they'll help to make it grow,
    so there'll be room for more like you,
    who have no place to go".
    I waited very patiently,
    The days they came and went.
    Today's the day I thought,
    my family will be sent.
    Then just when I began to think
    It wasn't meant to be,
    there were people standing there
    just gazing down at me.
    I knew them in a heartbeat,
    I could tell they felt it too.
    They said, "We have been waiting
    for a special dog like you".
    Now every night I say a prayer
    to all the gods that be.
    "Thank you for the life I live
    and all you've given me.
    But most of all protect the dogs
    in the pound and on the street.
    And send a Rescue Person
    to lift them off their feet".