He said his wife wept
as they walked down the aisle
lined by beds at the Children’s Home
in Ethiopia, there to adopt.
Row after row of smiling or tearful faces.
Her eyes locked on those of a small child.
She turned to him and gushed:
“This is our daughter!”
When my wife and I drove to Indiana
for a dog rescue, row after row
of cages with pleading eyes,
she said their eyes locked
and Butter became our precious pet.
Where would adoptees
end up if eyes had not locked?
I say a prayer for the children
and the dogs who did not
lock eyes.
Originally published in Rat's Ass Review