When we came home in 2004 we decided it was important to introduce some joy into our lives
something to help remind us of the lightness
as we walked through the dark of the same-old-same-old

Tony and Mel drove to Bulawayo and came back with Lily and Max Ndebele
twin Jack Russel puppies
two halves of the same spirit
posing always in exact replica
whether basking in the sun,
curled in their baskets
watching for rats
walking the paths to the vlei

bottoms together, tails turned outwards

and they played
as we sat on the veranda at night digesting yet another outrage
they danced and boxed and leaped over one another
paused
pounced, chased, spun
like coordinated lightening
like joy

tony walks them every night in the vlei
slowly coming down from the day

they sit at the doorway when I am in the A frame
they follow Mel around the garden
they dance a greeting when Kate and Rory come up the path with Eli
they eat together
sleep together

on Sat night – Guy Fawkes
we went out for dinner leaving Max and Lily in the house
(they don’t seem to mind noise  or bangs)
with their windows open
in our fairly impenetrable walled or fenced garden

when we came home two and a half hours later
she was gone

we walked the surrounds with torches
drove the roads
called the 24 hour vet
she was gone

Sunday everyone searched
the Mwanzas and the Zambezi kids
we drove and walked everywhere
searching ditches,
calling

we stuck up posters and phoned SPCA and Friends Foundation and vets

today is Tuesday
we have had two false alarms as other Jack Russels are found
but no Lily

Lily is the wild one
the tart
who seduces everyone by sitting on her haunches to have her stomach scratched
who leads the ratting raids
and wants to be brushed first

Max lies at the door step
or by our feet
lost his soul mate
trying to understand this unbearable ache

we try not to imagine what could have happened to her
those dark pictures that haunt us
her trapped somewhere
unloved

in some way it would almost better to find her dead

So we sit – with this Lily sized hole in our space
in our hearts
wishing we knew

This entry was posted on November 8th, 2011 at 11:06 am by Bev Reeler and is filed under Reflections, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.