Empathy Poem by Sadiqullah Khan

A dog sleeps by my door,
On a warm mat, in a cold night,
When it is raining.
He had been coughing
Howling strange sounds, as though
He had been biting more than
He could swallow. Lame on one leg.
He had been fighting
Other dogs, who in a pack
Were after a she-dog.
It made me fearsome,
To let him go, which he would not,
Afterall, he begs,
We live in a civilized locale.
At least he was not bringing bad omen,
His breathing, -if not rabid
Was a life closer by
And I was protected by the door,
Tightly closed and locked twice
So he would not break in.
His coughs would disturb me,
Not really fear me.
And by the morning he would leave
By himself, if it is a shiny weather.

Sadiqullah Khan
Islamabad
February 7,2014.

BOSSHARD Rodolphe-Théophile,1889-1960 (Switzerland)
Title: Les enfants et le chiendevant la maison
Date: 1917