1. Barbara Tschudy wrote on February 1st, 2006 at 4:43 am

I wrote a poem for Sam and Susie, the day I read he died. Here it is:

“My Name was Sam, I am!”

To all those out there who say I was loathsome

I led a life that was happy and wholesome

Apparently my owner, gentle as a dove

Held me and showed me unconditional love

I know my teeth were ugly — I had grossly thin lips

my ears resembling old and moldy tortilla chips

what hair I had left sat atop of my head

Yet whenever I was hungry, I was always fed

My eyes, opaque, from a gargoyle’s curse

my hairless wrinkled body, I knew not which was worse,

my scrawny tail, looked brittle and bent

But my tail I did wag, wherever Susie went

I thank you Susie, for you’ve always dared

to hug me and play with me; and showed me you cared

As for the dog shows, it never mattered to me

all the laughs and sneers the audience shared in glee

For what mattered the most, and only you would know

that when I was put on a pedestal for show,

All the other dogs never looked at my face

for they knew me by scent, and accepted my race

So perhaps most humans, do you suppose,

have not been blessed with that peculiar nose?

I was blessed with a snout, instead of healthy eyes

to judge more fairly what our world supplies

And what I’ve sensed in my fourteen years

were frightened stares and very cruel jeers

from human beings, said to be so smart

some may have high IQ’s but they have no heart

Susie, thank-you, for loving from your heart

try to understand that we are really not apart

I’m enjoying another world, one that doesn’t judge

a world in which I’m happier, and I’ll never hold a grudge.

Love, Sam

(I am)