Miss Dr. Doolittle

My daughter, Susan, is an animal lover.
Animals know she loves them.
The duck that runs from the boys,
eats out of her hand.
The rabbits that escape from their cage
because the 'stupid cows' knocked them over,
don't want to escape from their cage.
They find Susan as quickly as they can.

She took the Dutch rabbit out in the snow
and laid him on his back.
He just laid there,
his one leg twitching.
All of her rabbits rest contentedly in her hands,
lying on their backs,
because right after they are born,
she holds them like that.
She does that everyday,
and they are as comfortable lounging around
on their backs as they are sitting
on their legs.

One of her teachers at school
calls her 'The Frog Whisperer.'
If her frogs get too noisy
or start banging around,
she tells them to be quiet
and they listen.
The other day,
I was excited about my weight loss
and proclaimed my victory
to the household.
The frogs got all excited.
'They are happy for you, Mom,'
she interpreted.
She gets them to do tricks.
One time I paid a dollar for a ticket
to attend her frog circus.
It was worth more than a dollar.

Phil's mother, Ginny,
watched Susan play with them
as she stretched them out and
showed off their skills.
She said, "They look so...
naked."

Last week,
Susan brought a rabbit outside and left him
hop around.
After awhile,
a cardinal came and investigated
the rabbit.
They appeared to be touching noses.

Sheila and Jasmine are two cows
that Michael and Philip have raised since
they were a day old.
Sheila ate some wire or something
and we lost her.
Susan held Sheila's head in her lap
as she lay dying,
stroking it and talking kindly to her.
A few days later,
she tried to comfort Jasmine,
who was standing at the spot
where her friend Sheila died,
head hanging low in grief.

Don't tell me animals don't have souls.
They have a mind.
They have a will.
They have emotions.
They have souls.

Animals know that Susan loves them.
Animals trust their souls to Susan.
Little Miss Dr. Doolittle.