They baptised him up on the Berner ridge, <br />the dog thought Brutus was a splendid name. <br />He trained between the summit and the bridge <br />a perfect pupil who adored the game. <br /> <br />The day when churchbells sounded through the day <br />a thousand tourists tortured tired feet, <br />tomorrow was the second day of May <br />the local Vicar took a bite to eat. <br /> <br />They saw him leaving the Café De Mange <br />but not again until the evening Mass, <br />a hundred people saw the Avalanche <br />it started at the top of Brenner Pass. <br /> <br />Brutus had been the Vicar's special friend, <br />he powered up the mountain's icy slope. <br />He slobbered and he fretted, would the end <br />be simply death or was there any hope? <br /> <br />He barked the loudest he had ever done, <br />the scent was something slightly in between <br />the stench of porkers having lots of fun <br />and yellow roses up near the latrine. <br /> <br />He did not scold the Vicar for his fear, <br />instead the odor was a pleasant breeze <br />his canine tongue inserted in one ear <br />the holy man sat up and had a sneeze. <br /> <br />Brutus lived long, in fact some twenty moons, <br />up in the church inside the Vicar's flat <br />was fed each meal from ancient silver spoons <br />and died a proud and happy dog, and fat. <br /> <br />He had succeeded early in his life, <br />and glory followed him like turbulence, <br />he took a Weimaraner as a wife <br />but she got cataracts inside a lens. <br /> <br />So they retired her with a new mate <br />up near Geneva in the lower land <br />while he stayed with the Vicar and his fate <br />it was a thing that few would understand. <br /> <br />So was he resting on his laurels then? <br />Performed no other service to mankind? <br />Oh no, inside the Vicar's holy den <br />he read the Bible to improve his mind.<br /><br />Herbert Nehrlich<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/brutus-the-alpine-rescue-dog/
