A DOG’S DEATH

A dog died this afternoon; since ages they have died

No inquest, no investigation, or, wreaths laid

Unsung, unlamented, but for few barking mongrels

His funereal goodbye without much fuss or laurels.

They say you are man’s best friend, but that’s a lie

You are born to guard, give company, and a trophy be

When the bark has no bite they discard you as old

No way would they keep a mangy dog, heavens forbid.

They say dogs don’t deserve rites in a h’ble world

A dog is but a dog it feels no heat or cold

It can survive on waste and go to sleep whenever

It can lie anywhere in sweltering heat, rain, or, wherever.

Why do you sleep during day and howl and bark at night?

Why are your internecine battles always fought out of sight?

“Bad Dog”, “Mad Dog”, “Sad Dog”, “Dead Dog”, they say

Without a care for your feelings, respect, I say.

Nocturnal beings, disturbers of sleep, watch dog

Why did you die under the car’s wheel, you poor sod?

You could have died a better death, had you been abroad

Here you are a “stray” into nobody’s home allowed.

I badly need a dog to take away my loneliness

How could I have adopted you in my fecklessness?

Dogs are expensive to buy and keep these days

This I can’t do unless I mend my errant ways.

Goodbye dog, be well in dog’s hell, goodbye forever!