Princess

**Princess**

Beyond the veil where amber light streams soft,
you rest among the clouds like scattered down,
no longer bound to earth but held aloft
in gentle arms that wear a golden crown.

I feel the phantom weight of your sweet paw
that pressed my hand so tenderly to fur,
that silent plea, that most beloved law—
our ritual, when time itself would blur.

You taught me what it meant to truly love,
my first, my faithful girl with eyes of trust,
now wandering through fields of light above
where sorrow fades to stardust, as it must.

The rainbow bridge holds fast your noble grace,
and though my hand lies empty on my knee,
I close my eyes and feel your velvet face,
and know that love transcends what we can see.

Sleep well, dear Princess, in that radiant shore
where golden Labradors run free from pain—
until that day when we are one once more,
my hand upon your belly once again.