When It's Time To Say Goodbye
| His old gray head rests upon my knee And I stroke it with trembling hands His years are closing in on him And I know that he understands “He's only a dog" some people might say But they are the kind that don't know They've closed their hearts to the love of a dog And they don't know how deep it can go I pity those who would snigger When a man and his dog have to part They can't understand the sadness he feels And I pity their coldness of heart I write these words as I cradle his head And the ache in my heart seems to grow As I'm filled with all the emotions That a lover of dogs would know I'll be by his side when he breathes his last Unashamedly I will cry For true friends know only heartbreak When it's time to say goodbye His hearing is not what it used to be And his eyesight is fading fast But I need more time with my dear old friend And I pray that his health will last I've never felt that I 'owned' him For you never can 'own' a friend To me he's a part of our family And he'll be that way to the end We still go for walks in the evening And he ambles along at my side I know that I'm walking with heaven's gift And my heart is bursting with pride We walk through the fields that we've known so well Since he was a frisky pup But I know I'll not walk those fields again When his time on earth is up I've had many dogs in my lifetime And they all have proven their worth They've enriched me with all of the treasures That you'll find nowhere else on this earth He's been honest, and faithful, and loving Yet so little he's asked of me If a man could possess half his goodness That's the man I would like to be He's filled my heart every precious day In the years that have hurried by And that part of my life will be empty When it's time to say goodbye He seems to be sleeping so soundly And I wonder if he ever dreams Of the days when his world was fresh and new When we frolicked in fields and streams He's been by my side since the day he was born And my world will become so bare When I glance at my side where he used to walk And I find he's no longer there His toys are resting close by us And the memories they hold are strong Just to watch him play with a tattered ball Could fill my heart with song We chat every night before bedtime These moments I count so rare But I wonder how I'll find sleep at night In the bedroom we used to share I know that I'll clearly see him For good memories are never blind He'll still slumber there on the foot of my bed The picture's engraved in my mind I'll miss being wakened each morning With that feeling I find so grand When I open my eyes to his smiling face And he gently licks my hand I know that this earth goes on turning And someday we all must die But my heart will cry out its sadness When it's time to say goodbye He's been by my side every step of the way He's been by my side in the good And the days when my heart was heavy I knew that he understood With the slightest wag of his friendly tail He can make my cares seem light And the love that shines from his faithful eyes Always makes a dark world bright I dread the day that’s approaching When he’ll become part of my past But we’ve stored up so many memories And I know that those memories will last I pray that there is a life after death And I pray there's a heaven above For that heaven will glow even brighter When it's blessed with my old dogs love He knows that his end is approaching For I've seen the look in his eye And I know that he’ll know how my heart breaks When it's time to say goodbye K.D. Abbott © 2007 |
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