ToPiperSue

A pixie face staring solemnly through
The bars in the cage in the back
caught my attention one summer day
and stopped me dead in my tracks.

�What�s her story?� I asked the staff
and listened to their reply:
�They rescued her from a sewer pipe.
If they hadn�t she would have died

�She�s awfully scrawny,� I commented.
�Dirty and full of fleas�
I wouldn�t get your hopes up too high,
we can�t save many like these�.

But something in the kitten�s eyes
touched my heart and stayed in my head.
It was hard to envision her tiger � striped coat
lying there, cold and dead.

But I hadn�t counted on shelter staff
or the wonders their could do.
For they took the little one under their wing,
the kitten they named Piper Sue.

And when I checked back on the following day
a miracle had occurred.
They�d coaxed her to eat, and given her baths.
Now I watched while she happily purred.

So now we had to wait for a week,
the time that we give to strays.
And as we watched her valiant fight
we anxiously counted days.

At the end of the week the prognosis was poor;
her condition hadn�t improved
And yet while the rest of us started to grieve,
and officer�s heart had been moved.

Although death was in obvious option
one person wouldn�t say die.
So with Joy in our hearts Piper Sue headed home,
to give life another try.

The kennel staff hugged her and kissed her good -bye
and gave her a last farewell glance,
and then turned around and went back to the kennels to find
another that needed a chance.

You ask me how can I love them,
and you work here day after day.
I ask you how you can say you care
when you turn and walk away.

There are days of sadness, grief and despair,
anger and rage, it�s true.
But I work here for the days we can help
the ones like Piper Sue