Elegy to Peta,
Our Late Departed Terripooh

Sweet little soul, now fare you well,

You've suffered long enough;

And so we end your suffering

Sweet little thistle puff.

You dropped into our lives on cue,

The answer to a prayer;

We had no more than asked for you

When, presto, you were there,

Delivered to our grateful hands

And from an early death,

You soon transformed our stodgy stands

With chasing you, out of breath

Oh you brought laughs and fun our way

We marveled at your wit-

The only dog I ever saw

Who at birth could both beg and sit.

You could have been a hunting dog

Had you long legs to roam,

But in short grass you tripped on frogs,

And gunshots sent you home.

So you became a house dog,

A lap dog through and through-

You lapped up milk and gravy drops

And shiny faces too.

And how you loved to take a ride,

Down town or to the lake;

Each squirrel you saw along the way

Was barked at for our sake.

But you never caught our back-yard squirr;

Your leap was just too short-

You gave him many a noisy scare,

And I think he loved the sport.

So Peta, now we feel you gone

At every house-hold turn

We still are careful with our steps

And careful when we turn.

But, you're no longer sleeping there,

A muff beneath our feet;

How heavy is the silence

When your bark no longer greets.

So you came, sweet little thistle puff,

The answer to a prayer.

Know that another guarantees some day we'll see you there.

And you'll lick our face and frolic

Jumping Heaven knows how high

As we all play fetch together

In our pasture in the sky. (G. Pinkney 1/05/02)