We

are a pack,

intimately formed,

with no clear

Alpha,

that role shifting

as easily as

want

need

demand

arises.

Each retains

full memory of arrival,

of introduction

to this flesh —

an ache,

a break,

a humbling of self

denied,

resisted,

at long length

accepted.

Inseparable.

Tippy and Horse;

twins Thumbelina

and Paige;

Daisy, Tippy’s heir.

A tangle of mortality,

we comfort each other,

lick our wounds

as one.

We are

a pack.

 

— C.Birde, 2/19