A Needed Friend

The sobs of sorrow saturate
another wintry night.
A little girl has lost her dad;
her life now lacks the light.

A foreign war destroyed a dream;
a young heart pounds in pain.
A mother's eyes, all sad and sore,
bring tears like misty rain.

Across the field, along a road,
where screech of rubber lay,
a slamming door, a yelp released,
a dog limps on its way.

The cries were heard through window frost,
a pup beneath the sill.
A girl forsook her sorrowed self
to warm away the chill.

Upon a bed, she shed the dread
to comfort icy feet;
the balls of snow in tangled hair
dripped cold into the sheet.

The pup, with whiskers sticky wet,
consumed a jellied treat;
he licked his paws and cracker crumbs,
then snuggled near her feet.

The kitchen light, left on at night,
stirred Mom to be aware.
She peered into her daughter's room
to gaze about with care.

The pup perked up, then lay back down
with blanket as a hood;
a child in pink asleep in peace,
a mom now understood.