Poem - The Angel

My family and I have had a number of dogs in our household after moving to India. Some of them were very dear to our heart, and in this blog post, I will be talking about the dog which was most dear to us: Milky. 

We got Milky from my mom's friend, whose dog had given birth to a litter of beautiful puppies. We had also taken a stray mongrel puppy, a brown coloured male. 

Milky on the day we first got her! 

And this is the mongrel we brought with her. His name is Cookie. 

Milky was a very feisty little puppy. She'd always be running around and biting everything and having brawls with Cookie. Both of them were inseparable and it was always a joy for us to take care of both of them. Milky was a little extra special for us since she was always rambunctious and cheerful and what set her apart from her litter was that she was the only one born with white fur. 

She grew up quickly and got more feisty. She was fiercely loyal and protective of us and her territory, unlike our timid mongrel, Cookie. For a dog so small, she was naturally fierce and would bark at every passerby she saw, sometimes even try to bite people who she thought were intruders trying to come in, even if they were our guests. 

One of my favourite pictures of these two! 

Our joys increased when she got pregnant. She mated with Cookie, who had grown to be a lot bigger than her. Regardless, we later noticed her eating a lot and gradually getting fatter and fatter. We soon realised that she was pregnant and we were so happy and excited for her to give birth to her litter. 

Some months later, on 10th April 2019, mom and I were in our shop and my dad had gone home early to tend to his garden. Mom was on a call with her sister and it was all quiet and calm until we got a phone call from dad. Soon after I said hello, he, in a very frantic voice said that Milky was dead. I couldn't believe what I had heard! I quickly told my mom and she ended her call immediately, asking for more details. None of us knew anything, so we decided to close the shop for the day and rush home. 

Taken on 8th April 2019, this was the last picture I had taken of Milky. 

We were so grieved as we went home and when we reached, we could see Milky's body lying under the shade of our car in the garage. Mom got the car out and we took a good look at her. We were heartbroken when we saw her motionless on her side, dried blood all over the floor and in her hind legs. There were no puppies born and she died trying to give birth. 

We sadly took her body and buried it in the garden. That day, I saw a new side to my dad, who had dug a hole to bury her. My dad, as he threw the mud over Milky's body, was crying. My dad doesn't show affection to our dogs the same way as my mom and I do, but when I saw him weep for Milky, I could see that he loved her very much. 

Cookie too, being the one who spent the most time with her, clearly looked lost. For the next few days after burying her, we saw him smelling around the garden, even looking longingly at the garden as if searching for her. When he would lie down, he would fall to his side with a gentle thud and then heave a large sigh. It was painful to watch. 

The silently grieving Cookie

That day was the first time I ever lost a pet. I can say that losing a pet somehow hurts more than losing a human. A lot of people can relate to this, I believe. We see animals as mute and more innocent, therefore it hurts us a lot more when they die. 

The same evening, while mourning and taking the time to think, I wrote a poem to vent my feelings which you can read below. 

THE ANGEL 

She had fur as white as milk

Eyes like the rusted surface of Mars

Spotted stumpy little legs

A cute black button for a nose.

She was an angel disguised as a dog

The most playful and mischievous one yet.

Full of love, devotion, and protection

She would fiercely drive away intruders. 

Alas, her legs, 

When stained red and black with dried blood

Her body, 

Lying still on the ground like a doll that has fallen over,

Her brown-furred companion, 

Silently mourning the loss of his beloved, 

Oh, how it rent our hearts to see her

To not have been able to be there with her

Oh, how it tore us apart to shreds.

She was to bring forth her litter

Alas, her pain caused Death to touch his cold fingers over her

God in his mercy allowed it

Though bloodstained, she was an angel

Sweetly sleeping while we wept

She will always be an angel.

- Platinum

I'm a theist, a Christian, and I believe strongly that God allows sadness in our life for a purpose and not to torment us for his entertainment (hurting us brings Him no joy whatsoever). I also strongly believe that God feels our pain as deeply or even deeper than we feel it.

Her death brought to memory an incident narrated in the autobiography "Cowboys Make Better Preachers" by Leo Schreven and his brother Squirrel. 

He narrated an incident similar to the one in this post. Leo was a cowboy in his younger years and he once got to take care of a colt. He loved the colt very much and was attached to it. Unfortunately, one rainy night, thunder boomed and the colt, scared, got its nose stuck in a barb wire fence nearby and was severely injured. The blood had gone to the colt's lungs and it soon died. Leo was distraught by this incident and even questioned God, asking why such a thing had to happen to him. It wasn't until several years later that he realised that if that colt was alive, he would've still remained as a cowboy, and he would have never become a preacher and public speaker, going around and helping people to live their lives to the fullest by making the "All Power" seminar series, which I have watched and greatly benefitted from. 

I always thank God for the sad moments and happy moments alike, because I know that in every situation, God wants me to learn something new that will make me to be like Him.

Although losing Milky was very painful, I know that God hasn't allowed this to happen for no reason at all. One day, it will be revealed to me why this happened.

Artists have always lauded art's preservative nature and its ability to immortalise long-dead living beings. I'm glad that we were able to immortalise Milky, our very special pet, through photos, a poem, and finally, in this blog post.

That being said, here are three more of my favourite photos of our dogs! Enjoy ❤️

Thank you for reading this heartfelt post! Please don't forget to leave your comments down below and share this post with your friends! 

Love, 

Arnica.