LYNN — The city’s first poet laureate Michelle “La Poetica” Richardson was recently reunited with her emotional support dog Koffie after the community sprang into action via social media.
Richardson, who is in the process of moving, realized Koffie was missing last Tuesday morning when he didn’t respond after she called his name for breakfast. Moments later, Richardson’s son ran down the stairs to inform her that an anonymous resident spotted her lost dog and posted about it on the community Facebook page called “781 Lynn MA.”
Before 8 a.m., the post had been shared five times, and Richardson was able to get in contact with the family and retrieve Koffie within hours.
According to Richardson, the family found Koffie late at night last Monday and kept him warm and safe, even giving him a sweater and snacks as a parting gift.
“They were awesome. He was really happy when they came back,” Richardson said.
Richardson expressed her gratitude for the community’s efforts to spread the word and reunite her with Koffie. However, she said she personally tends to “stay away from” certain local social media pages, as she finds they can often be “more toxic than helpful.”
She said, “A lot of times, these pages that are meant to inform and update are used to berate, harass, humiliate, and attack. I’m grateful everything worked out this way, and my puppy was found, but I would be even more grateful if these platforms were used for things like this and things related to uplifting and supporting instead of attacking or slandering. There’s enough negativity in the world right now.”
As someone who has faced “a lot of unexpected changes” in her years, Richardson said Koffie’s consistent presence is a valuable source of comfort in her life.
“If someone knows me, they’ve seen me with my dog. He’s known in certain circles. He’s the one constant. He doesn’t lie. He doesn’t abandon. He’s always there,” Richardson said.
She added, “To have a living, breathing being who sees you and loves you and is there no matter what, it is a balance that I need.”
