Storm and Hound

I had wondered that very day
where all the summer storms were,
so when he leaned his palpitating flank into my chest
and showed me the color of his back teeth in his panting grin,
I was not surprised,
and I could hold him through the thunder and the sudden light
and remind him they are here but soon
the cicada darkness will return,
and you, my friend, will still have nameless prey to chase
through one hot night into another,
and so on till the Fall.

August 31 2015