Maria Daines: MUSIC

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

Some time ago we were asked to write a song for this poor young pit bull who was nicknamed Phoenix (Lil Mercy) by rescue and medical staff. A kind friend of ours, Zara Benton, wrote to us and told us how much this terrible cruelty case had touched her heart. Zara was immensely distressed by the suffering that Phoenix endured when she was set alight with gasoline and left to die.

Here is part of Zara's letter that inspired Phoenix's song -

''Phoenix, a 2 year old pit bull. She survived but they did put her to sleep after a while because her kidneys were failing due to her injuries and her pain. I am told by a friend in Baltimore, where it happened that they took her outside and let her see the grass and the sky before they sent her on her final journey. She was giving kisses and wagging her tail right up to the end of her life.

When she closed her eyes for the last time I pray she knew love and her pain ended. I can't stop crying and I can't write anymore sorry my friend.''


And here is part of the text from the news page for Phoenix which you can access on the link below -


Baltimore city police Officer Syreeta Teel said she used her sweatshirt to put the fire out.

"This was one of the most cruel things I've ever seen. It hurt me to my heart," Teel said. "She was screaming, rolling around on the ground. I've never heard a dog make that sound."

The dog, who rescuers had nicknamed Phoenix and Lil Mercy, was taken to BARCS, and then taken to the Swan Harbor Animal Hospital.

"She came in walking and wagging her tail, looking at the staff and looking for comfort," said BARCS Executive Director Jennifer Mead-Brause.

PHOENIX'S STORY

*Phoenix*

Someone's missing you sweet girl
Someone good and kind who knew you needed love in this bad world
Someone cares and says your name
Someone cries and knows your pain

Two years old and burned alive
You tried your best just to survive
A gentle soul without a care
But you were hurt beyond repair

I heard they showed you one last time
Grass and sky before you died
They gave you everything they could
To show you people can be good

Now you're like a phoenix rising
A candle in the dark
A bolt of summer lightning
You leave behind your heart
Where there is hope in sadness
You'll never be alone
When man is lost to madness
Peace will be your home, peace will be your home...

You lost your fight like many do
Because our species can be cruel
We're dumb and some will never care
But they are lost and life's unfair

You were beautiful sweet girl
Beneath the bandages and burns
Your time on earth, the pain you braved
The love you had, the love you gave

Now you're like a phoenix rising
A candle in the dark
A bolt of summer lightning
You leave behind your heart
Where there is hope in sadness
You'll never be alone
When man is lost to madness
Peace will be your home, peace will be your home...

I wonder at your lonesome sorrow
You who never knew tomorrow
You forgave with one last kiss
Mankind should remember this...

Now you're like a phoenix rising
A candle in the dark
A bolt of summer lightning
You leave behind your heart
Where there is hope in sadness
You'll never be alone
When man is lost to madness
Peace will be your home, peace will be your home...


© Maria Daines/Paul Killington
All Rights Reserved
(mcps) ASCAP
21.08.10


**Messages from the heart for Phoenix**

"As always, a song that just reaches inside and squeezes my heart. You and Paul are so amazing. You have "the touch" for saying in music what so many of us feel in our deepest hearts for the animals who suffer at the hands of monsters. God bless you both. RIP sweet Phoenix. You will forever be remembered in our hearts. Your suffering and death were not for naught. You MATTERED!"

Bonnie Snider
USA