For Maddie:

I don’t know where us old dogs go,
once we’ve left the ice and snow.
I hope it is a happy place for me,
where I can be strong again and free.

Free to lead that pack of mine,
feel the love from my master’s hand.
The smell of the earth under my feet,
my racing heart keeps up the beat.

The beat of at least 40 feet on snow,
driving hard, that’s what huskies know.
For thousands of miles, I’ve traveled with,
the man who held me from my birth.

I blazed a trail through thick and thin,
and just for him, I’d do it all again.
He made my life so complete,
now I’m content to lay at his feet.

Maybe that’s where us old dogs go,
fading memories of ice and snow.
I’ll be with you until my end,
toast my departure with a glass of gin.

**Poetry and painting by: Todd Johnson

***Maddie was a lead dog owned by Mr. Rob Cooke, who finished multiple Iditarod and Yukon Quest 1000 mile races. She resides at the Rainbow Ridge.