morose
sleepless in bed
a grieving poet
his raw emotions
flooding
blank pages
in the dead of twilight
c a l c u l a t i n g
the weight of his grief
paralyzed
by sudden loneliness
his moribund four-legged companion
of a decade and change
couldn't be saved
succumbing to cancer
euthanized
a huge loss
he loved that dog
more than he ever did
most humans
his thoughts
intermittently wandering
toward a particular memory -
a fun game of fetch
at the park with "Lucky" -
his tired eyes
finally flutter shut
heartfelt send-off
unfinished
pen still trapped
between his ink-stained fingers
elegy to be continued...
in the infancy of daybreak
he will ensure
his fellow mourners
know just how much
his beloved "Lucky"
meant to him
You were sought for your beauty
captured in mid flight
swept away and abducted
euthanized in your prime
pinned spread eagle
for display and framed
so everyone can ponder
the cost of beauty's immortality
AP: 2nd place 2026, 3rd place 2026
Hissing like the glide of silk
A python curls upon my throat
It’s not his fault that he was born to kill
The blueing of my skin makes me a ghost
It’s not his fault that he was made to kill
Why is it when I part my lips
A little bird is born and flies
The python wishes he was born with wings
He forced it out, now robs it of the sky
He wishes he was made to fly
It was my friend, the biting wind
Caressing, rosing up my face
Red apples in my cheeks like I’m a kid
A dying dog sits patiently and waits
Excited to be euthanized and skinned
A wound so fresh that it still bleeds
Three bony fingers dig inside
The carpet splattered scarlet red with beads
My gore’s a jewel I get to wear with pride
You take and take till it’s not longer mine
The passive, gray fruit of your eye
When it’s on me, it’s like it speaks
My fruits are green therefore they don’t reply
Your words are like a puzzle, missing piece
Should be a joke but sounds more like a lie
There’s something silly in it all
In stealing words from children
When you decide to put them in your art
My presence is in plain sight, hidden
But you will always know I played a part
dog stricken
with cancer;
euthanized.
out of her
m i s e r y;
dog owner
hollowed out
by deep grief;
best friend, gone!
Coal tar zombie mouth leaks town gas syrup
Meat hook telegraphy indicator cameras hypnagogic
Liverwurst elegy beneath the frosting
Cinderblock reverie churns with mildew
Manus? Grilled cheese sandwich.
Cantonal enchantress, covered blossoms.
Necropolis euthanized, springtime salad.
Rhinestone rookery smothers loquat
Humans are not like us
They are very hard to teach
We show them what we can
If it's within our reach
Some are quite cruel to us
They haven't yet evolved
If they could communicate
The problem would be solved
They seem a trifle dimwitted
Their language is complex
We learn what we can from them
But they don't pass the test
They don't seem to see it
Our language is not that hard
Instead, they enslave us
and put us in the yard
We care too deeply for them
I don't know to what end
Destroying our environment
They never seem to bend
They chain, beat, and torture us
and some are left to starve
They keep us locked in cages
Our home is a backyard
We once were free to roam the earth
The past where we once thrived
But now they maim and neuter us
Our offspring euthanized
When we meet our maker
of creatures far and wide
Our part ensured in heaven
Their downfall is their pride
Our lot was given the die-cast
and we must persevere
The humans remain clueless
That is our biggest fear
Their future's still in question
with their ears that do not hear
If they can't learn to listen
to the bond we hold so dear
big brown floppy ears
huge heart, fluffy wagging tail
shelter euthanized
to lose sleep over
a person or per thing just
sleep dream best not worse
-OR-
to lose sleep over
a person or per thing then
just stay up and worry
to put one or thing
to sleep one is bored to sleep
or euthanized pets
-OR-
to put somebody
to sleep read H*'** P**'** <--told Tolstoy keep writing
verbosities yikes/writes
rocking to sleep use
back-forth-motion helps ~ OR
use real rocks ~ they'll sleep
Abandonment, like murder, grows as a grave crime today,
A sin of commission, against persons and animals;
Aren't children who desert their old parents and run away,
As harsh, as the primitive tribes, who were called cannibals...?
Abandoned pets, like urchins, roam around in streets and parks,
Hungry, thirsty they fight, near butcher's shops, for bits of bones ;
Injuries and illnesses they undergo, with bite marks,
Dirty and sick they are euthanized far from human zones...!
Sadness and worries, old mothers and fathers undergo,
Existence turns absurd when kids they loved much, give them pain;
When masters leave, as life as stake, pets too in sadness grow,
Should pets and humans suffer such fate, till rebirth they gain...?
Forsaken, rejected, shunned... creation comes to a standstill,
Hatred and cruel scorn for beings kill the divine will...!!!
*I wrote this in behalf of Juliana Wetmore and for many others like her who were born different.*
I was born as the girl without a face.
The love of my parents was my saving grace.
I braved the storms and tides for my place under the stars.
My courage could be seen through the depth of my scars.
My parents believed that I was born this way for reasons.
My brave heart survived by the passing of the seasons.
But cruel souls wanted to preempt the wheel of my destiny;
Too much numb to fathom the depth of my agony.
For being different, I was judged and criticized.
One bully even said, I should have been euthanized.
But I could say I am special in different way.
I deserve to hear silence when one has nothing good to say.
Somehow, in this world, I have a special purpose,
to tell the hearts that act of kindness has nothing to lose.
Why judge so harshly when you can simply be silent?
Be thankful instead that you're not born this different.
April 1, 2023
Write A Poem As Someone Else Poetry Contest (6th place)
Sponsored By: Matt Caliri
I have come to take the cure, I said.
I heard it is easy, and practically painless.
The ultimate forever end-of-the-end-cure? She asked.
I nodded my head. Yes!
And how will you be paying?
I am delighted! This is the place.
I had heard that it was, but you can never be sure.
Do you want a cremation? Or shall we just toss you over the cliff?
I peer over the cliff. There are lots of things down there
Cars, trucks, refrigerators, hope chests, an old safe
Can you go over the hill without all that armor?
Oh, sure. It’s no extra cost to toss you in a frig though.
To be tossed into a frig. Hm… That might be nice.
Do you have any pink refrigerators?
I think we might. Just a second. I will check.
Sam, do we have any pink refrigerators?
No, but there is a little pink Corvette we could toss her in.
All the better. I hand over my credit card.
She asks me for my car keys too.
Why?
Because you won’t be needing it, right?
Right.
A big guy comes in demanding to have his wife’s car keys.
To the pretty pink Corvette?
He nods his head.
Sorry, it has gone over the hill.
She winks at me.
It was thought the young whale was pregnant
confused as she was and out of her depth.
They waded into the river to help,
floated rubber rafts to buoy her up.
Marine experts posited ways
to keep her breathing in shallow waters.
In dockyard pubs
hard men openly spoke of her plight,
voices low and humorless
as they test-drove new technical jargon.
When she died;
rolling in the pebbly shallows
we threw a tarpaulin over her
as if she were a human cadaver.
We had televised everything,
implemented elaborate plans,
recorded last moments with ripples of hope.
Later we watched the sluggish waves
wash away her long drowning.
~~~~~
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/young-whale-trapped-in-london-s-river-thames-euthanized-1.5421060
Future Past
I had a vision of how life could be
I was brought back in time to 2003
our sun was blocked, all life was indoors
a new future emerged from so many wars
disease was all gone, nobody got ill
all you had to do was take one little pill
aspects of life were not left to chance
not even the smallest of man’s circumstance
the trees disappeared, each structure was stone
there was no religion, God was not known
old people were gone, nobody was entombed
at age 33 you were euthanized and consumed
I was 50 years old in my 33rd year
my family was gone, I felt nothing but fear
I was now all alone, completely out of place
I still had gray hair and wrinkles on my face
I didn’t belong, in each eye I saw doubt
I found many doors, but there was no way out
I ran for my life down hallways with no end
I prayed God to help with just one single friend
Will this future past, one day come to be
If we all lost our faith and no longer could see
Imagine our life without the son of God’s birth
Mankind could be trapped, in a hell here on Earth
a sanitized death
no blood guts pain even sweat
that’s life said the vet
shaking his head with regret
poor dog wagged his tail ~ we wept
By
David Kavanagh
Reflecting on our
old dog Casper
was euthanized
and died in 2013
Yogi the Bear
steals picnic basket
gets euthanized
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