• Share

  Tweet

• how it works
• 

---

Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: FAMILY (01/21/16)

---

• TITLE: Ballad of Ones Beloved | Previous Challenge Entry
  By Holly Westefeld
  01/28/16
• 
  
  
    LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
    SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
    ADD TO MY FAVORITES

---

Your mom knew you needed a family.
She may have been wanting one, too.
Selecting our shed as your nursery,
She nurtured you all as you grew.

We thought there would be other families
Adopting and loving you guys.
We already had four sweet kitties.
Five more did not seem all that wise.

But mama and sister went missing.
(One just can't keep cats in a yard.)
We brought you and Phoenix and Storm in,
'Cause worrying just was too hard.

Your mama showed up five days later,
But Shadow Cat never returned,
So inside you stayed with the first four.
Your presence, acceptance they learned.

Now twelve years have passed in an eye blink,
With seven, by illness and years,
Departing their loved earthly family,
Each leaving a void and tears.

So you, Rogue, the last of your family,
Seemed healthy and vibrant and strong,
Til suddenly last Monday evening,
When something went terribly wrong.

You stood to jump down from the bookcase,
Not even three feet off the floor,
But something impeded your balance,
You fell, yowled, and soon breathed no more.

We'll just never know, here, what happened,
If illness or footing is why
Another huge void in our family
Is causing your people to cry.

The shock and the horror imprinted
Forever on our broken hearts,
Will surely grow less as time passes,
But now they feel riddled with darts.

No snuggles at night while we're sleeping,
No lapful of soft, silky fur,
No prowling for treats in the kitchen,
No catnaps induced by your purr.

But trusting our loving Creator
Is likewise preparing a place
For all of our furred family members
To romp in a beautiful space...

He made them before He made people,
And lion and lamb will lie down,
So clearly His creatures will be there,
In freedom to frolic and bound.

So we will have quite a large family
Of people and kitties above,
For now we will treasure their paw prints,
And memories of ones so beloved.

*****

Nonfiction. In memory of Rogue, who almost never resembled his
name. 6/9/2003 - 1/25/2016.

---

---

---

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

---

Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.

---