if you set me loose in the country like a moving family’s dog
where would i go?
to the bed twice my age
in the copper clay-brick house?
to the summit or the valley
where the stars know my name?
to the pipe across the creek
that saw me stand at its mouth
and sing?
but the bed was my parents’
and the wild was the bears’
and the hallowed pipe
overgrown and echoing
belongs to the singing girl
at the end of the tunnel.
they say the forgotten dog
will always come back home.
i can only hope
i skip beds, wilds, and pipes
and run to you.
Ellie Simmons is a student and author based in an Atlanta, Georgia suburb. When not writing, she coaches youth rock climbing. Her work is either published or forthcoming in Frighten the Horses, COOP, and Genrepunk Magazine.