Pets

A little life around the house

Can add to the life within.

Paws pattering on morning-cooled floors predict

The following steps in the day’s

Activities. Some sounds of movement set

The pace for pets’ daily purposes.

Like anything in life, the number

Of pets one owns should correspond

To ability and resources. Moderation leads

Many people to understand that care

Takes energy and time. The joy

Of their unique personalities shared together

In marked memories is a measure

Of grateful gains and lamented, labored

Losses. The absense of long-lived listeners’

Pain is salved when securely settled

Next to the wistfully-welcomed fond friends

Remembered. The moments of wondrous wildness

Shared together must sometimes be enough.