KATY’S GOODBYE (to Flopsy her rabbit)

...

Katy, all saucer-eyed, with solemn face,

leads our small procession at slow pace

to a secret spot she knows.

Wise and knowing beyond her tender years,

protective of the cardboard box she bears

bound all around with multi-coloured bows-

for Flopsy

..

Katy, with silent prayer and glistening eyes.

is startled by a jackdaw as he flies

and lights upon the willow;

opens his beak and drops a single leaf,

as if to share her agonizing grief-

into the scooped earth waiting far below

for Flopsy

..

Katy, with trembling lip, her courage fled

completes the journey and with growing dread

stops at this hallowed place.

On sodden earth, on genuflected knee,

observing Rites of Passage – just we three,

pray for Favour and for Grace

for Flopsy

..

Then through the branches of the willow’s crown

a sudden burst of light now filters down,

caressing three small nosegays.

The blissful silence as the rains desist

and this new resting place is gently kissed

and dappled by sweet sunrays

-for Flopsy

…and Katy smiles again