For all the Animals

For all the Animals I've ached for and had
the privilege to know
but never really completely understood,

especially those of you who owned me for just a while
how privileged I feel to have been Loved by each of you
in your own unique way.

To the Cats who never came when I called them for hours,
yet never failed to be there to lick leftover tears.

To the Dogs who took mud baths after a vigorous grooming,
or took off in the woods I thought never again to be seen,
only to be waiting at the front door for me when
 I returned with heavy heart.
Their look of genuine relief undeniably stated: 
they thought it was ME who left
and was not coming back.

To all the Horses that trained me
to be a "human whisperer"-
your strength alone and unmatched 
cunning was enough to crush this lesser
specie that fed you at irregular times 
knowing you like consistency,
and forced a bit across your tongue and
 hammer and nails across your hooves.
But instead, you seemed to like nothing more than
laying your massive heads across my lap
and closing those gentle, liquid-eyes as though 
my touch were strokes of equine ecstasy.


I loved you all but I guess I never said it enough, 
out loud at least,
to last the many lifetimes I wish we could 
have together spent.


What it is that we ache for when you're not around?
What part of ourselves is left
 to wither when you're gone?

There's something about each and everyone of you
that we as humans try repeatedly but fail to replace.

I loved you all, and a part of each and everyone of
You remains inside of me.

I can only hope in your Heavenly Domain that you remember
too the human that fed you
 in the rain and snow and never complained,

that took you to the Vet when 
she couldn't afford a doctor herself,

that carried pictures of you in her wallet
 instead of pictures of her "human" family,

that remembered no other friends
 that loved her quite as much.

Just know you were Loved greatly, beyond words,
just as much if not more
	than Life itself.

You were what made Life what it was,
a gift to be shared and taken with 
you where ever you go,
until we meet again to rejoice in that 
Love that kept us bonded,
no matter what infinity we find ourselves,
know we'll never be lost from another.