Joyce Stranger
Freelance Writer specialising in Dog Subjects
Member of the United Kingdom Registry of Canine Behaviourists
Member of the Institute of Journalists & Society of Authors
Poem Page
"The Mountain Rescue Dog"
Yes, we bought you, long ago. There was so much we didn't know.
Crazy pup, racing the breeze, stop and sniff beneath the trees.
Puppy with so little sense. We never thought you'd grow immense.
A year old dog with dancing eyes, every day a new surprise.
Bark at children, chase the cat. Destroy our shoes, and tear the mat.
Hooligan, so often bad. We say "this dog will drive us mad."
Another year, and training school. You often make me look a fool.
Until the day we took our test and your great score out-shone the rest.
Now our real work had begun. For me, a mission, for you, fun.
On the mountains, climbing steep. Concentrate, ignore the sheep.
Growing proficient, growing wise. Learning to use nose and eyes.
Often braving mountain danger hunting for an injured stranger.
Phone rings at night, we both arise. Helicopter takes us through the skies.
In freezing dark we start our quest, doing what we both do best.
So many times we make a friend, saved from an untimely end.
Mission over, our job's done. We can relax and have some fun.
From my flask I take a drink, eat a sandwich, sit and think.
You climb above me, stand and stare, looking up into the air.
Maybe you can angels see. Visions they deny to me.
Down the mountain by my side, my special dog, my joy, my pride.
Never thought when you were young that your praises would be sung.
Your story's written on your grave. "So many lives this dog did save".
I can remember now, with pleasure, the dog that proved to be a treasure.
That picture hanging on my wall... My mountain dog.... that says it all.
This poem was published in My Weekly Annual 2002, with a fantastic
picture by Mark Viney of a German Shepherd on a mountain top
©Copyright 2007 Joyce Stranger
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