PROJECT BARKANSAS

A small dog cowers in the mud and filth
No kindness did he ever expect
His fear is the lifetime legacy
Of endless hurt and long neglect.

An old dog lies in a barren pen
Just skin and bones and breath
His hunger and thirst long unrelieved
As he quietly waits for death.

A weary, sick dog whelps one cold night
She watches as each pup soon dies.
This is her life year after year.
In despair, she sits and cries.

And the stories go on and on and on
And the heart breaks again and again
For those that work to change these scenes
And seek to ease the suffering. 

There is pain in this gift of compassion
To deeply see and feel and care
It takes its toll on the spirit and soul
At times almost too much to bear.

    It’s to be haunted by the sorrow
    In an innocent creature's eye
    To hear even in it’s silence
    A desperate pleading cry
    To be compelled to listen
    And tortured by the WHY.

Yet there is a gift in the pain of compassion
And blessed are those that make the choice
To do what is right and noble and good
To help those that have no voice.
    
                       ~ Janice Wolf ~