Into the coffee bar we walk
And there they are waiting,
They rush towards me
And will not let me pass
Until each has had a treat,
A treat from my pocket.
These two retrievers
Every time they are there
They come to us,
As if they are ours.
Being with these dogs takes me back,
Back to my childhood
When we had dogs.
There was Prince, the Boxer,
He would race around the garden
In his mad five minutes,
One day he came racing at me
And didn’t stop in time,
His chin hit my knee.
The only time he hurt me,
But it was an accident.
Our family used to take him up ‘The Ground’.
My brother and I climbed trees,
Played games and Prince played as well.
We finished, locked the gate,
Ready to go home.
Prince went straight to the bus stop,
He was not walking home.
Then there was Shane, the Red Setter,
A beautiful dog we had for many years,
He was still there when I left home.
He eventually passed to that kennel in the sky,
But the words I remember were from my Mum.
She said one day:
“The rhubarb in the garden
Has not tasted so good since Shane has gone!”
Such good days I had in my youth,
When dogs were always with me.