As I look in your trusting eyes to say my tearful last goodbyes,I find it hard to let you go. You're such a part of me.

The years we shared are now a blur since you were but a ball of fur.
I still can see you in my mind unleashed and running free.

But now you're sick and not yourself. I grieve to know you've lost your health.
Yet you brought boundless joy to me. I hope somehow you know.

And as I stroke your shiny coat, a lump grows large within my throat.
I wonder if you understand this really is farewell.

You look at me as if to say, "Just stay with me. Don't go away."
And so I will, my little one as you lay down to sleep.

And though the time has come to part, you've left your paw prints in my heart.
A heart that breaks imagining my life when you are gone.

by Greg Asimakoupoulos
July 14, 2006