Stray Dog by Charlotte Mish
I’m not sure where I came across this poem (probably in an anthology), but I like its simplicity.
Stray Dog
By Charlotte Mish
Your wistful eyes searched each one as he passed.
Stray dog—so lost, so starved and starkly thin,
And yet your gallant hope held to the last
That there would come a heart to take you in.
Some came who jeered at your bewilderment;
Some kicked you, shouted, threw things till you’d gone.
But, oh, more cruel was the one who bent
And petted you, and murmured—and went on.
