I feel the soft weight
of her against my heart.
She’s cradled in my left arm,
her paws straight ahead,
one crossed over the other
in a casual gesture
of trust.
Her head droops a little,
resting again my breast,
rising and falling
as I breathe,
letting me hold
her dreaming body.
A sigh,
she’s sleeping.
JoRene Byers grew up on the ancestral land of the Clatsop (łät’cαp). Spending her childhood listening to the Pacific in Seaside, she heard stories of the coast and Neahkanie Mountain, the “place of the Creator.” She lives in the High Desert now, never forgetting the sound of the ocean. Instagram.com/terry.jorene
