Monday, April 5, 2010

Starfish Poem

I've always loved this poem, and I think it really relates to rescue. We try to save them all, but ultimately we can't. We can try, but we can only do it one dog at at time. We have to focus on the ones we can help, and remember what a difference we have made in their lives. Let's hope one day we can empty out the shelters and that all dogs have a place to call home.


Starfish poem


Once upon a time there was a wise man


who used to go to the ocean to do his


writing. He had a habit of walking on the


beach before he began his work.




One day he was walking along the shore.


As he looked down the beach, he saw a


human figure moving like a dancer. He


smiled to himself to think of someone


who would dance to the day.




So he began to walk faster to catch up.


As he got closer, he saw that it was a


young man and the young man wasn't


dancing, but instead he was reaching


down to the shore, picking up something


and very gently throwing it into the ocean.




As he got closer he called out, "Good


morning! What are you doing?"



The young man paused, looked up and replied,


"Throwing starfish in the ocean."




"I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"



"The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."



"But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"



The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it

into the ocean, past the breaking waves and said - "It made a difference for that one."


Author: Unknown







2 comments:

  1. how touching this is i love the poem

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's my favorite story!
    It's based on the story by Loren Eisley

    ReplyDelete