Farewell, Daisy

farewell to bright eyes and erect ears

a necklace of light brown fur

a lunge, a growl, a kiss, a hop.

farewell to you who was always there

rustling, chewing, crunching, through

divorce, graduations, loneliness and joy.

farewell to four little paws and a bunny tail,

grinding your teeth in the night as

I tossed and turned with one problem or another,

you were always there, patiently enduring

my tears drenching your fur, salon days

of hair dressing, nail clipping and other

delicate grooming matters we don't talk
about in proper company.

our adventures have ended, the floor is bare

where you hopped so recently towards fresh

carrot greens, lettuce and cooked oatmeal.

I’d rather you were there than the dresser 

S. moved to make sure you had a spot of

sunshine every morning.

memories endure and you, little Daisy,

will always be in my memories.

I miss you today, I will always
miss you, my fair Daisy.

Daisy died at age 13 1/2; the average life span of a house bunny is 8.  She was a very special rabbit and I miss her very much.  I fostered Daisy from the Humane Society for a week when she was a baby and was lunging at any potential adopters.  About a week after I brought her back, I rushed to the Humane Society to adopt her myself, knowing that she was not going to be adopted by anyone else with her terrible habits.  She gleefully terrorized many over the years, but finally mellowed when she fell in love with Snowflake, recently widowed by Butterscotch's death.  They lived happily until Snowflake died.  Over the last four years, Daisy seemingly beat back death many times but she got thinner and thinner, and I knew her time was coming.  She died on July 4th, 2011, peacefully and with no pain.  I held her in my arms most of that evening as she faded away even though I really needed to pack for an early flight out the next morning.  I finally laid her down on her side to attend to a few things.  When I came back to her about an hour later, she had passed away peacefully.