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]