Two Poems For Those Who Miss Their Four-Legged Friends

In Memoriam Maruška [*13.8.1995 - +14.12.2009]

DON'T CRY FOR ME WHEN I'M GONE

--- (Author unknown) ---

Three score and ten are given to man,
But ours is a much briefer span.
So, though I give you all my heart,
The time will come when we must part.
But all around you, you will see,
Creatures that speak to you of me;
A tired horse, a hunted thing,
A sparrow with a broken wing ...
Pity - and help (I know you will)
And somehow, I will be with you still;
And I shall know, although I'm gone,
The love I gave you lingers on.


DOG'S PRAYER

--- (Author unknown) ---

[Translated from Czech by VT; Edited by MP]

My master:
It is said that I am the best friend of man.
That is true.
I do everything for you
That I can.
I worship you as God.
In my eyes you can read trust and love.
I try to return to you everything good

That you give me.
I am ageing beside you and your children,
I watch your house,
Guide the blind,
Save people from ruins and avalanches,
Pull sleds,
Help to catch criminals,
Entertain people in circuses,

Suffer pain in laboratories for your health.
A million times I wag my tail
To thank you for your care,
To welcome you home,

To show you my hapiness.
If everyone left you,
I would stay with you forever.
Please, my master
Don't leave me
And let me live with you my life as a dog.

I'll be grateful and loyal as any being in the world.

And, my dear master, when the time comes,

When I will not be healthy and will not have joy in life,

Do not send me away from you.

Rather hold me gently in your merciful hands

And let me find eternal rest

And leave with the knowledge

That my fate was safest in your hands.