A Best Friend

She walked her dog though stooped by old age

Her eyesight was fading removed from each page

No matter the weather each day without fail

In sun and in rain, in snow and in hail

Prince was led on his lead through the park

By the river sometimes but never when dark.

 We met now and then through the medium of dogs

Without them I doubt if we’d exchange many words

I learned that she taught many years in the town

And remembered the pupils now they had all grown

Now in her nineties life was beginning to ebb

Both her and on Prince, caught in its web

No walks no lead no dog now to see

The ambulance came to her home around  three

The sirens were loud and the lights flashing blue

The mourners formed an orderly queue.

I still walk my dog but I noticed last week

That Prince was enjoying some hide and some seek

A young lad was throwing his ball to and fro

Prince knew at once where to run and to go

Then I thought for a moment on what I was seeing

A change of pace, of trust and of being

What a Best Friend really is.