WHEN I WAS JUST A PUP
I was given to my master
When I was just a pup
Oh, yes, he really wanted me
That is, ’til I grew up
I was pampered by the family
They brushed me everyday
I was always fed and watered
And never lacked for play
They taught me many fetching tricks
And I learned well, with ease
But then, they tired of the games
Though I tried hard to please
I’m no longer just a puppy
And they treat it as a sin
I wish they knew there’ll always be
Some puppy still within
I’m banished to an old wire pen
My world is five foot square
My house is barely adequate
It doesn’t seem quite fair
No one ever walks me now
Sometimes I don’t get fed
My pen is not too clean at times
A concrete floor’s my bed
I miss those nice warm register
I miss those thick soft rugs
I miss lying at their feet
I miss the children’s hugs
Perhaps they just don’t understand
How loyal I would be
And that I’d give my life for them
While guarding faithfully
If they just knew about these traits
Things just might look up
Perhaps they’d treat me like they did
When I was just a pup
6/20/84 – Phyllis DeWitt-VanVleck
1’st … Indiana NPD 1989
2’nd … Arkansas NPD 1997