Lurcher Love by Irena Szirtes

Sometimes they visit my dreams –

My horse, a wisp of white, 

Steps through slits in

Eternity to soothe and settle 

My heart for a snatch 

Of linear time;

Now my lurcher, lying on a wall, 

So we’re at ease again in

Settled symbiosis, and she’s 

All leggy life-force, spry, 

Tuck-upped and tailored, 

Tamed yet temperamental, 

Slick-brained and sneaky 

As lurchers can be. 

She hijacked my dreams at daybreak, and

I stood by that wall, knew her soul again, 

While friends we should have 

Walked with passed by, and 

Heat closed my eyes as 

Our hearts re-melded. 

Once, she untangled love 

From turbulence, obedience 

From terror, till her 

Understated love loved 

Deeper than sea-bleached bones 

Then she jumped down. I awoke, 

And knew that if bodies die, love 

Deeper than bleached bones 

Thrives unrelenting, for once,

She confirmed my dog days 

Weren’t done, and reset a destiny 

Which might have been lost. 

She hijacked my dreams at daybreak, and 

I stood by that wall, knew her soul again, 

While friends we should have 

Walked with passed by, and 

Heat closed my eyes as 

Our hearts re-melded.