A year has come and gone since Taz left us. He was a gorgeous silver
gray ferret kit when we got him. He had been in a round glass container
in a pet store and was a terrible biter. He had been abused for biting
so no one would buy him and he was terrified of that cage. He was seven
months old when we saw him and realized he was running out of time to
be adopted. This is a little free verse poem I wrote about him after
my hands healed enough to type again. Yes, it took a long time for
him to rust us and quit biting us but after he accepted us he was the
sweetest, most loving ferret a person could ask for.

FREE

Pleading dark eyes, dancing silver body
"Please set me free,
Ferrets aren't meant to be caged"

Excited decision, eager homecoming, bouncing exuberance, reveling in
freedom.

"No, you can't put me back in a cage!" "You are not my saviors. You
are as false as every other human"

Anger, fear, betrayal of trust.

"I must hurt them as their trickery has hurt me"
"And yet, they hold me gently as I bloody them"
"They release me from my cage each day. Soon I realize it is my home
not my prison. There are treats and toys, quiet voices, soft touches"
"Could they be the ones, is there hope for me?" "I still doubt, I still
strike out at them as I yearn for the chance to live as I deserve....
free of fear, free of pain, free of broken promises, FREE!"

Taz had a gloriously free live with us and since we didn't lock his
cage unless we were away, he soon would go into it on his own to nap. I
know that he is even more free now that his earthly body is no longer
holding him down.

Laurel

[Posted in FML 5650]