& I’ve already pieced it out in my head: From inside the house, I can hear the horses neighing in the backyard, waiting for their buckets to be filled with alfalfa grass & sweet feed. The dog on the floor next to me has been chewing at himself for quite some time, pulling tufts of white fur out with his teeth & scattering them across the rug, looking at me as he does so as if passing me a present that only he can give & that only I can receive. I’ve decided to leave them there to dry & become part of the room, a tapestry of wet clumps that will feel more at home here than I do.
A sense of belonging being a gift that no one else can give us.