First photo of their plight —
two Chocolate Lab girls
in a maximum prison in a
Southern Illinois
cell together —
perhaps for life —

(No! No! Not another night!)

in a heavy-duty kennel out
of something like…

the Texas Chainsaw
Massacre.

(Not one more night!)

The second photos  —
release from their plight —

one girl lying on her back,
her tummy being rubbed.
She is loved!

the other girl standing tall,
statuesque, a woman of color.
Loving homes beckon and call.

St. Patrick’s Day.
Irish names for the lasses now free —
Fiona (condemned to be a swan,
released
by the bell of St. Patrick
and freed)
and Maeve
(one who intoxicates) —
from abandonment to freedom
from slavery.

It wasn’t too late!

— released by loving doves
who broke open the hellish
cell —

(For women’s poetry month, a top o’ the day, to ya, ladies)

free, Chocolate Labs
on their lucky Irish day
from captivity to liberty.

You go, girls.