Black Hound

Black Hound

It’s been a while since you came round. I told you I’d been
walking with the black hound,
and you were nowhere to be found
But in my stillness
It got me thinking;
When was that all consuming darkness first made synonymous with the
black hound?
I had a black dog once,
and in the morning light
she tip-tapped a dance down the hallway
while I fumbled out of my dream state,
relying on arms alone to see me down the stairs to meet Lucy’s boney body.
Formerly, Mystic Grill
but we don’t deadname in this house.
Lucy was always smiling,
her whole body celebrated your existence.
Whether you were out of the house, out of your body
out of your mind for 5 days or 5 minutes,
She lept like she’d been waiting her whole life
once you returned.
An abundance of gratitude for being rescued from starting lines and dollar signs.
Maybe that expression was never about the darkness after all, but the need to be saved.