Amongst the labs she's raised from birth,

Just like the six she raised before,

And buried in her back-yard earth.

 

She loves her labs more than herself,

She weeps for each and every one.

She's loved, then laid them all to rest;

Yet rest for her will never come.

 

For dogs are man's best temporal friends,

Companions for a dozen years.

Man's curse, however, is to live,

Much longer than his canine peers.

 

And thus embraces she such death,

In lieu of life she could have known,

With one who loves her even though,

She fears all creatures with a soul.

 

He watches through the window pane,

As she plants flowers on the graves,

Of all the labs he bought for her,

Who got affection in his place.

______________________

Fiercely proud, stoic and strong,

Capable of anything new,

Setting the standard all day long.

 

I have seen the woman in you,

Brilliant, bright, confident, free.

Nothing exists you cannot do,

Ruling your kingdom, easily.

 

I have seen the woman in you

Outwork men, outwit the boys,

Leave them behind, in their sand box,

Playing in silence, with their toys.

 

I have seen the spirit in you,

Bursting forth, outside its home,

Too strong to stay, inside its shell,

Destined to travel, born to roam.

 

I have seen the spirit in you,

In your eyes, and in your heart,

Without a word, without a sound,

It has enjoined us, worlds apart.

 

I have seen the woman in you,

And I have seen your spirit , too.

But there is more, hiding in there--

A child within, who never grew.

 

I have seen this girl within you,

Soft and shy, head in my lap,

Curl-up and rest, her soul exposed,

Taking a blissful,  needed nap.

____________________

 

 

Full of ordinary, girlish dreams--

Boys and horses, dates with cars,

Sneaking into all the local bars.

 

When we met, we didn't care,

First we seemed a contradictory pair.

I loved horses, you loved fun--

Getting into everything beneath the sun!

 

At the stables, all night long,

We would drink and think and ride 'til dawn.

Bareback gallops, bare-souled talks,

Laughing as we shared our hearts on walks.

 

Night Town raves 'til summer's end,

You were there, my one and only friend.

You were closed, but I'd get through,

The cool facade that all the others knew.

 

We made a pact, one star-lit night,

We would never marry, wrong or right,

Without both of us up there--

One in bridal, one in bridesmaid's wear.

 

I knew you could use a friend,

Who could show you life's too sweet to end.

Thought you'd die by twenty-five--

Always said I'd be the one alive.

 

But my fate was cancer's date,

I leaned on you for years, my misfit mate.

When chemo caused my hair to fall,

You said you'd shave your own head bald!

 

So we rode together still,

As the dead of winter brought its chill.

I was tired and told you so

(Some things you did not desire to know).

 

My last night, I asked you please,

"Let's go out, raise hell, and shoot the breeze!"

You were tired and went to bed,

And they found me in the morning, dead.

 

You felt guilty, as if though,

You could change the time I had to go.

Just remember, twenty-five

Was the age we always joked we'd die.

 

So I left you, silently,

With my horses, running wild and free.

Never married, cold once more,

Ten years later, you've still closed that door.

 

Vows are sacred, but expire,

As a body in a funeral pyre.

Gerdy, Gerdy, Geraldine,

Lonliness was not our teenage dream.

 

Live your life now, live for me.

See the one in front of you I see.

He has come to loose your chains,

Like the ones that bind my last remains.

 

Ride with him, as once we did,

Laugh and play, just as a little kid.

Love again and never fear--

God will keep him safely through the years.

 

He offers more than I can give.

He can teach you once again to live.

I'll be watching from my perch,

As he takes your hand inside the church.

 

Make a new vow, not to me,

But to him, your husband meant-to-be.

I'll be there to stand with you,

Riding Bubbles, dressed in bridesmaid's blue.

_________________________