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The Long Walk Home

An Ode to Pets in Audio and Textual Form

By S. A. CrawfordPublished 3 years ago 1 min read
Photo by Dmitriy Zub via Pexels

I cannot bear to lose you,

Though I know you must one day go.

All the miles you have walked by my side,

are but a fraction of that long walk home.

A bright, jingling empty collar,

and a heart as heavy as a stone.

No one can prepare me for that awful long walk home.

Every creature has its time,

and though I will not let you go.

You will go where I cannot follow,

and leave me with the long walk home.

I wrote this poem while waiting to hear if my pet was coming home from an emergency vet visit. Below is a spoken performance of that poem.

performance poetry

About the Creator

S. A. Crawford

Writer, reader, life-long student - being brave and finally taking the plunge by publishing some articles and fiction pieces.

Reader insights

Nice work

Very well written. Keep up the good work!

Top insights

  1. Compelling and original writing

    Creative use of language & vocab

  2. Heartfelt and relatable

    The story invoked strong personal emotions

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    Writing reflected the title & theme

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Comments (11)

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  • Tiffany Gordon7 months ago

    Nicely written!

  • Beautiful and bittersweet. Well written, Sheree!!!

  • Julie Lacksonen7 months ago

    I sure can relate. Well written!

  • Raymond G. Taylor7 months ago

    Some tender thoughts. I have never been a pet owner but over the last 30 years we seem to have looked after so many waifs and strays including an 18 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier who was abandoned and take to the vets where my daughter worked and brought home. The dog was with us for her final three months and died peacefully in my daughter's arms. I wrote a story about her for my daughter and it is posted here.

  • Rachel Robbins7 months ago

    Heartbreaking. My cat definitely get me through times. Lovely poem.

  • Imola Tóth7 months ago

    I'm sorry for you have to go through this. I had several pets in my life and it happened way too often with us, so I can really relate. Hope everything will be all right in the end.

  • Sandy Gillman7 months ago

    I really felt this. Beautifully written.

  • Linda Rivenbark3 years ago

    Beautiful and heartfelt...it pulls on all my heart strings.

  • Test3 years ago

    I love that you shared audio of you reciting this emotionally gripping poem—and I love your accent. I’m glad she’s back home.

  • C.R. Hughes3 years ago

    Very beautiful! I'm not a pet owner myself but I could feel all of the emotion you put into this piece. Thank you for sharing

  • Rob Angeli3 years ago

    Great work, very moving.

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