Let No Day Dawn that the Animals Cannot Share spotlights humankind’s deeply rooted emotional, cultural, ethical and spiritual bonds to the animal kingdom, wild and domestic, and identifies areas in which we have fallen short of our stewardship duties for scores of precious and irreplaceable fellow creatures. An additional treat follows the poetry. The author has been an animal behaviorist, trainer, caretaker and advocate for decades and shares her most humorous and poignant tales from these intensely rewarding inter-species interactions. 

Enhancing the volume to a point of utter magnificence are illustrations by Emese Dian, a talent new to the art world whose love of her subjects is evident in her renditions.  Each drawing carries the very essence of her subject, breathing life onto two-dimensional pages.

Kristine M Smith is a self-proclaimed “Dawn Quixote” who has sought all her life for peace – the peace to be found in knowing that everyone can make a positive, lasting difference.  “It is everyone’s destiny and obligation to leave something behind that shows what we were made of while we were earth-bound and ambulatory in the flesh.”  She adds: “You don’t have to be Mother Teresa or Albert Schweitzer to matter. Thank God for Mother Teresa and for so many other spiritual giants; I treasure them with all my heart.  But just treading more lightly in our daily walk and reflecting on our impact on others – human and animal – exercises our spiritual muscles in wonderful ways.  God gave us dominion over animals not so we can inflict scars, but so we can shepherd them to safe havens.”  Foreword by DeForest Kelley.

MEMORY OF A TIGER CUB

The tiger cub winds itself around my legs
And chuffs in contentment, flopping onto the floor
As we sit, pretending to be quite unruffled
By the incident.  We are all professionals here,
And should expect to be buffeted by tiny tiger paws
From time to time.

I try to act normally, but inside I am dying with
Excitement, thrilled by the cub, loving the cub
Who now sleeps soundly atop my shoes.

Someday she will weigh three times more than I.
And will she remember the evening she slept
Soundly atop my shoes?

I know I will.

GABRIEL RACCOON

He's a full-time quarterback
Reaching ahead while looking out
Over the Entire field
As if two separate consciousnesses
Exist behind that very apt black mask.

He loves flowers, you know
Quite as much as you and I, only
He's never content to merely watch them; oh, no...
He must pick them, or climb them
(If they're of sturdy character)
And he must bring them to the back porch
And present them, with gentle chirrs,
To a fellow flower child.
(Of what benefit is happiness if it cannot be shared?)

No lover of etiquette,
He unloads garbage cans of their bounty
And then sits back, content.

More often than not, he's engaged in some activity
You'd rather wish he wasn't;
But he's free, and you mustn't impose
Your human limits on his lifestyle,
His joie de vivre.

You recall why you named him Gabriel:
You hoped he'd be an angel.
Ahem.  Oh, well.  His name is a clever joke.
But then again... perhaps he IS an angel.
Can anyone conceive of a heaven
Without a fulltime quarterback who loves flowers?

MAGICAL MOUNTAIN CAT

Silent as a stalking owl
Unbetrayed by brittle twig
You move with liquid stride
Uncrowned emperor.

The moon in your eyes
You sit and watch.
You wait.  You tolerate
The willful intrusion.

Cougar, you are more than feet,
More than eyes, hair, skin, tail, sinew,
More than breath, more than purr
And stealth.
Cougar, you are more than all that.

You trail me, and gaze and follow,
A step to match each of mine
But I do not fear your closeness
Or misjudge your intent.  Stay a while.

Together we share this world
Its stars, its wealth, its bounty
And sharing it with you is easy
And less bother than any other civilian.

Cougar, Mountain and Meadow King
May your tribe increase and prosper
May the intrusion be only momentary
And not intended to drive you away.

Bulldozers and chainsaws prohibited.
Do Not Disturb.  Violators Will Be Prosecuted.
No Humans Allowed Except Seeing-Eye Humans.

Let no day dawn that the animals cannot share.