Love Poem: Hello and Goodbye Coco
Jennifer Proxenos Avatar
Written by: Jennifer Proxenos

Hello and Goodbye Coco

HELLO AND GOODBYE COCO	

I wanted a brown Labrador, blonde and black ,
I love them all
But I had made up my mind, anxiously I sat waiting for a call,
From the breeder, the phone rang ,
They had a brown female pup,
I could be there at three, I couldn’t wait to 
Cuddle and pick her up!
A grown up woman was I, but couldn’t contain my excitement.
We already had an eight year old male gold lab, 
Would he father her?
The door opened, a woman was holding a beautiful 
Pup with brown fur,
I finally took her in my arms and held her tight next to 
My beating heart,
We fell in love right from the start!
She certainly was not six weeks old probably five, as her 
Brown liquid eyes looked into mine,
My Husband who is the most loving man in the world, 
Just smiled,
And gave the two of us some alone time!
As we were driving back, she snuggled comfortably
Into my arms, 
It was winter so I brought an old baby blanket that I had,
Coco, gave me a loving look with those liquid brown eyes, 
My husband jovially asked me, will you still love me a tad!
I named her Coco, my son’s idea, and brought her home,
Carefully watching them both, and how Plato would react.
He sniffed her from top to toe, lay down, and put his head 
Head between his paws, and looked quite 
Confused to be exact!
Even my son who was in his fifth month of backpacking through
South America with his future wife, phoned to ask about Coco!
She was our baby, and followed me everywhere, to and fro,
My husband and son played soccer with Coco, they said
That she was an excellent goalkeeper, who an opposing
Team would dread!
We had three wonderful, happy years with
My loving dog Coco,
But one evening out of the blue, her legs were slow, her eyes
Sad and she didn’t seem as well as like two days ago.
We immediately took her to our local vet,
Everyone loved Coco, our brown beautiful pet,
He gave her antibiotics and hoped they would work
But a week later we took her back to the vet,
This time he said she must stay, and would not let
Her come home, he expected the worst, my tears,
Began to flow, and my greatest fears
Were about to come true, we asked for blood tests
And a cat scan and an MRI too, but she had cancer
Leukaemia which is horrible and fast, she had two weeks
Said the vet, until this dreaded disease peaks! 
He looked at us in a knowing way,
Coco had to leave us, what more can I say!
We had her cremated and she lies in our garden,
Under her favourite rose bush
Where she used to lie in ambush,
Ready to run after Plato who pined for her and
Was very sad,
We brought him a new puppy, which made glad,
But Coco was his soul mate,
To die young, was her fate!