WHAT AM I TO YOU?
       by  M. Kummer

As a pup I dreamed and wondered
what life would hold in store:
For ME, I thought, there's something GREAT
Beyond that kennel door.

Out there are needy people
And I have much to give:
Love, and wit, and gentleness,
To help them learn to live.

I'd be someone's protector,
Keep little ones from harm,
Or guide an old man's weary steps,
Or help to run a farm.

I'd run and bark and jump and play
With friends along a sandy shore.
I'd roll in meadows thick and green
That lie beyond that kennel door.

I lay here waiting---longing,
As the days and years went by:
My owner kept me fed and brushed,
But inside let me die.

I do not think of greatness now,
I am old and filled with pain.
My owner has some ribbons,
But I have lived in vain.

I cannot think what would have been,
My dreams are filled with hope no more,
Just floor and walls and broken heart
For me behind this kennel door.

CCof A "Bulletin"
Feb. 1984