Sarah

this started with the dog
pure pedigree
moving easy
sleek and blonde and lean
a dog has no problems
a dog like this

just try not to notice
that faint starved look
about the eyes
still there like a scar
years after
starvation stopped

do not notice
the shivering in any storm
the starveling eyes wide
seeking nothing
not even escape
a dog resigned
and shivering only
i shiver with her
the things we do
to one another

do not notice
the dreaming in shared bed
(i complain of hair
and do not mean it)
do not notice the eyes again
wild brown as she sleeps on
twitching
i cannot make her safe then

but beauty is there
not in the fine drawn lines
not even in the running
like poetry so smooth and gleaming
but there in the courage
that i would protect and borrow
she is unsafe
and always unbowed
eyes open
dreaming thunder

---

Kara Coryell