Ode To Odyssey

A tiny white life, born to the street.
Hardship and strife, and little to eat.
A world that's so cold, uncaring and vast,
Is the life which the innocent finds herself cast.
She hardens herself - if just to survive.
A life with no love isn't really alive.
But found in a dumpster, injured and sick,
She was wrapped in a towel so soft & so thick.
She fought kindly hands with a warrior's soul,
Unaware their intent of making her whole.
Her claws quick to slash & her teeth quick to bite,
Her life up 'til then was a perilous fight.
Never shown love and known only fear,
She'd lived several lifetimes in only a year.
Trapped in a cage, her defenses were high.
She'd growl and hiss at the folks who'd walk by.
But then one Spring day - as if purely by chance -
She reached upside down, and batted my pants.
"Oh, surely not that one! She's all about violence!
Pick her up here and you'll leave in an ambulance!"
But she ignored all the staff, she would not be deterred.
And once in my arms, she quietly purred.
She found a place in my arms and a place in my heart.
A triumph of love and a life she'd restart.