When you wish to forget, but cannot,
your dog runs with you in the rain. You have
nowhere to go but a woman’s flat

you have rented in a city. The woman,
a dear and beautiful friend, is not just
a woman, but you are just

a woman tonight, a woman rushing
home in the rain. ‘I should have ordered
you both a car’, a man and could-be

father texts, ‘instead of watching you
leave in the rain.’ You’ve run in worse places,
and in worse shoes, but now,

you’re running off with your dog,
running quietly in the rain. He is old,
but keeps up. You two have always been

good at running. Your dog is tall, smart,
good, and fast, his legs warm
with summer rain.