I sat in the snow,
Watching feral dogs
Forage for food.


A cruel man came.
Their hackles rose.
They retreated, but
One dog didn't budge.


The man loped purposefully
To the petrified dog.
Soon there was blood on the snow,
Many hues of red.


The other dogs nudged him
And heaved him
Over to their shed.


Another dog bared his teeth at the man,
Then hurried through the eddies of snow
And across the stark, brittle ground
To where the other dogs gingerly
Treated the hurt one.


Then one day,
A frigid day,
Food was scarce.


While the adult canines scrounged for it,
The spark of life left the injured one.
Dogs mourned solemnly for days,
For he was an exquisite dog.