The blue-tick’s tale began at birth,

Like most of us upon this earth,

But that’s when Riley’s life unwound -

For hunting wasn’t in this hound.

Kennel bred and bred to work,

The calling of her breed would shirk.

A timid dog that failed to hunt,

The kennel team was forced to punt.

So to a shelter she was sent

Cast aside, a dog’s descent.

There she lingered in despair

Her hound dog face and blue-ticked hair.

Months would pass but no one took

A liking to her timid look.

A parasite would come to dart

About her blood, into her heart.

And then a website floated by,

I saw her face, she caught my eye;

Days away from certain end,

My fortune found in her a friend.

Retrieved and welcomed to my place,

She struggled months, her past replace.

Neurotically uncertain still

But deep within, a living will.

From skin and bones and frightened nights

Through months she suffered with her plights.

But then a corner she would turn,

Her journey joined by trust I’d earn.

A year has passed, her health returned,

And I’m her friend she’s now discerned.

I’ve watched her growing every day -

The slow ascent to find her way.

I never thought a dog I’d own,

But seeds were cast and now they’re sewn.

And harvest I, a bounty grown -

Sweeter than I could have known.