No one's perfect except you and me, and sometimes I'm not sure of you" are words I recall from humorous conversations over the years. Circumstances change. Friends enter and sometimes exit your life. Love may be returned or rejected, but love from your pets is love in its most trusting, unconditional form. Their lives are shorter than ours so that we can enjoy loving more of them--pets are there for us when we feel abandoned by everyone else. For them we find strength to face each day with a smile. Any woman who does not marry or enter into a long-term relationship before turning thirty often realizes that she has kissed a lot of frogs who did not turn into handsome princes--but puppy kisses are always given with an open heart. Poems in this collection were written between 1958 and 2021 and reflect my many emotions over those years. Most of all, I hope my poems make you smile and perhaps become more introspective. And remember, give roses to ones you love while you can hug them and let them know that red roses truly do say, "I love you." --Nita Childress