Shari and Minka
The odd couple

A beautiful
Doey-eyed collie
A lady
And “the tramp”
A tiny jack russell

The lady was a lady in spirit
She began life in a pound
Dumped there
Her crime
She cost too much to feed
Her humbled frame
Suggested
She had suffered
Far more than a lack of food
And so we scrambled for our last cents
Literally
To buy a broken heart

The tramp was a dynamo
A reject from breeding school
Longing to be special

And so they met
And the music began

Shari never knew how to play
It seemed
Persistently
Minka tried to play ball
But somehow
A tennis ball terrified Shari
The speed?
The hardness of the ball?
We did not know
But Minka found a way
Shari loved soft toys
Especially a tiny pink bear
She would wander for hours in the garden
Dreaming?
Tiny pink bear in her mouth

And Minka stole her bear
The chase began

Round and round they raced
Shari’s feet were flying!
That bear
Was her bear!

And then
The magic moment
Minka stopped
Turned
And tossed the bear

Shari caught it in her mouth

A pause
And then
Shari walked over to Minka
Placed the bear before his feet
And lay down
Quietly
The tramp understood
Wandered over
Lay with her
Curled peacefully between her paws

Minka gave Shari the gift of lost puppy life
Shari gave the gift of belonging