by Erica Boquist
2003
Pass the days we have together,
Filled with frustration,
Over flowing with love,
Good days were
When we were together,
Just sitting quiet,
Or playing with a toy,
Rough housing on the floor,
Or lying in my lap as I petted you.
Running through the park,
Lying across me feet,
Watching cats jump over you,
Watching you chase a fly.
A Rotweiler/Lab you were,
With fur black as night,
Long and wavey...
Certain you were
To give us both gray hairs,
You escaped the dog catcher,
You broke through chain link fence,
You could beat a car home
From over two miles away.
Perhaps there was a touch too much
Of human and magic in you.
For my beloved friend you were
Too smart for your own good,
Not wise enough to stay safe,
In our home where we loved you.
Goliath we miss you.
1999
Pass the days we have together,
How short they seem,
You chewed on everything,
Especially your own house.
You ran all around your cage,
Pawing at the glass,
You were a tiny thing,
Small enough to sit
Quite comfortable in a shot glass.
But everytime I see a wren,
Flying about or pecking at the ground,
I'm reminded of your fur,
So speckled so lovely,
A hamster you were,
Rusty, how much I miss thee.
1999 & 2000
Pass the days we have together,
Not always animal kind we miss,
Two human lives slipped away,
In the space of only a year.
And though I know not,
If you all wait for me,
I know that you've gone
To see those animals that left us first,
And I know that you gladly meet,
Each one that came after you,
New cats who came after you passed,
Have filled a great lonliness in my soul,
Tamika and Faith their names,
Born to remind me of your love.
Nana I miss you.
My mother I miss you.
1997
Pass the days we have together,
How strained perhaps they were,
We knew each other for two years,
And still I feared to love you,
How kind and understanding,
You seemed to watch me somedays,
As if to say "I understand,
I can't be her and I know you hurt"
But never did she want for the tinest thing,
I lavished you with chew toys,
Treats, new tubes, and treated you like spun glass.
Wonderful was your pink and white fur,
The way your nose would twitch,
A good companion through a great deal of change,
Nibble, I miss you.
1995
Pass the days we have together,
How quickly they seemed to pass,
Filled with moving and strain.
You were the best at what you were,
And perhaps a little better too.
You seemed almost magical,
No one who didn't know you would believe.
You had a great power for one so small,
To heal or family one and all,
You rested on our chest and truly we were blessed.
You knew things that one never expects
From an animal let alone anything else.
You've left a place in my heart,
That never will be filled,
But in my mind I know that you,
Sit on my mother's chest,
Her lips pulled up in a smile,
The sun warm upon you both,
And wait for me.
A hamster you were,
And pink you were,
And Pinky you were named.
I'll miss you all of my days.
1990
Pass the days we have together,
Who knew how long we'd have,
You found us yourselves,
And worked your way into our hearts,
One cat a special stray,
With silver tabby markings,
A taste for orange juice and tuna,
Not to mention a love for water.
The other a black angora,
My beautiful imagined lost show cat,
Who stowed away in my father's truck,
And become a mighty hunter,
Who left rat tails on the porch,
For a little girl you two were the best,
Beloved beyond all the rest of my pets,
Certainly there were rabbits that lived and died,
A bird that flew away,
A fish that I think you ate,
But somehow you two are what I remember,
Of a childhood now fading gray.
Tabby and Alica I wish I could have kept you,
But a'lass we moved away,
A family you were given to,
Long ago and I know you've passed away.
I miss you greatly,
And sometimes dream that you are alive somewhere,
Still pulling the same silly stunts you did,
The days you came and found us.
All those we love,
Live and die,
Leaving bright spots in our lives.
Though one little light may pass out of our sight.
Another is always sure to enter.
And always their love is unconditional,
Always do they understand,
The those that passed before them,
Did a job that they now fill,
And each and everyone of them,
Wait before the bridge,
Tails waging, noses in the air,
Heads tilted, whiskers twitching
Eyes shinning bright...
Not only are they waiting
But friends they are making
For each carries a part of you,
They share with those that passed before.