Love Poem: Ozzie
Njeri Hunjeri Avatar
Written by: Njeri Hunjeri

Ozzie

Ozzie oh Ozzie

Ozzie was a Newfoundland dog
This dog was like a big ball of cushion
He had a body of a bear and innocent look of child
He was soft in and out, well crafted, black and white
He weighed around 150 pounds
He loved to run- he had the most majestic run
I loved watching him, took so many videos of him

Rewind a little step back......me as an adult
Coming to a new culture, I was very disgusted by how pets were treated 
I was like - how can animals be treated better than humans?
I was confused and had a lot of "nice" things to say about this new pet culture

Rewind back........I was around 12 
I got a beating from my brother for throwing cold dish water on one of our dogs
I was an angry teen

Rewind back, way back........around 7 years
Me and my sister cried so hard when we watched one of our brothers kill and bury little puppies
His reason being, we didn't have food to feed them and nobody would take them
I guess, population control
I was an innocent kid
Around same year or year after, we lost Tommy a beloved dog of the family that had been with us for years
His burial was in style, none like that in our village
We buried him like a human and even wrote an epitaph for him
We all loved him

Thank you Ozzie for taking the angry teen and the confused adult out of me
And bringing back the innocent kid
I will always love you, because of you my love for pets blossomed!