we went a walking
Before the big storm we went a walking. Under the cover of darkness, past the time most walk quickly and uniformly with taut leashes on timed routes we walk freely, haphazardly, here and there. To the park, past the homeless camps battened down with tarps and carts, down cozy porch lit streets and around the school yard where we aren’t supposed to be. Sometimes running, sometimes pausing to look, or smell, or listen. Listen. It’s cold. It’s dark. It’s magical. The snowflakes fall around us, making our journey less anonymous this night. Seemingly intentional paw and boot prints mark our path with clarity, for a moment, until the snowflakes fill these voids too. His gallops lift my spirit and my occasional voice assures his. Moments of loneliness together fill us.