Rescue Dog

I’m like a rescue dog

that’s been kicked around too much

Except unlike a rescue dog

people around me don’t care as much

*

Not to say that they don’t at all

I know people who care deeply for me

Such as my rescuer, me

*

I know her friends care for me too

They give me all the love they can

but they don’t give that extra love

that a rescue dog gets

*

That extra affection

because they know you’ve been hurt

beyond what others could fathom

The unconditional compassion to care for you

when your present surroundings

trigger survival mechanisms of the past

and you start acting stranger

than you normally would

*

Hiding in the shower

during a storm

Whimpering

at high pitched noises

Growling at shadows

*

They honor your abnormalities

and commend you for your strength

that you survived

Assuring you

that you are loved

that you are safe

*

With the need to feel

that they should love you extra hard

because someone once hated you

until they shattered your spirit

*

No

a broken human is more than often discarded

like they are the the ones responsible for being broken

and while I have two thumbs and a grasp on my life

to help mend the damage that tore me apart

I don’t see how me and a rescue dog could be much different

*

Yes

I have spent most my life healing

but Rome wasn’t built in a day

The construction of building me up

would be quicker if humans weren’t so relentless

If they could treat me as kind and gentle

as the rescue dog

and realize I am just trying to adapt to a life that’s better

than the home I came from

Create a better me in a safe shelter

*

Not to say humans are all trash

although we’re pretty good at creating it

*

Just as I’ve found

the most hideous monsters

wearing beautiful human suits

I have found

the most loving angels

disguised as everyday people

*

Maybe I’ll never be loved like a rescue dog

and that I just have to accept

But for every uncompassionate human being out there

who’s ever made me feel less

I forgive you and remind you

even if you never know

what it’s like to be a rescue dog

I still pray for you when I go to bed