They sit, stand, lie Caged, confused, confined, cold, Huddled together For comfort, for warmth In the open, filthy, pen, Shivering, homeless, hungry, lost Man's best friend - Now friendless Trust, love, expectancy shine Through longing, life-filled eyes - Each waiting, eagerly hoping For the sight of his beloved master. Wagging their tales, They jump and leap in joy At the sight of the human - their keeper. In an instant of time, a moment of time, of untold insignificance in the history and course of the cosmos, a moment, a speck of time in the vastness of space, of spiraling nebula, and dense black holes of dancing stars, of a place where time and distance are measured in light years a point and place in time so insignificant as to have almost never existed, The shots are fired - Anguised howls shatter silent skies; Terror breaks forth in trusting, helpless hearts. Innocent blood cries up From the red, grim ground Bursting open the boundaries of heaven Resounding in agony to the Creator. Heaven reaches down to Earth Enfolding the dying innocents With Divine Love And there is peace In the putrid air.   (This poem is based upon a news story about a town that does not have enough money to put dogs in the pound "to sleep." Instead, the dogs are shot. The name of the town is Bullet.)