A Barking Reminder

Sheer Will.

No, that's a lie.

My dogs get me up

On the toughest of mornings.

Their incessant whining

Barking and prancing

Begging for food.

They don't let up

Licking my exposed toes

Digging bony elbows into my back

Cold snouts pushed into my face.

They force me up

To feed them

Because I may not want to live

But I need to for my dogs.

It reminds me after a while

That those moments

Mean something

My life

Means something

To someone.

My husband,

My dogs,

My cats.

I may want to give up

See nothing to live for

But those barks are all it takes

to tell me

I'm needed, wanted, and loved.

That's what gets me up

When there's nothing to live for.