Woman with an English Springer Spaniel

She is old. She walks
her English Springer Spaniel
along the lake each morning
just after sunrise.
She ties a colorful scarf
about her head and wears an old coat
now that the air has turned chill.
The spaniel walks slowly,
in step, with the woman.
The spaniel is old too.

You think of your English Springer Spaniel
gone fifteen years ago,
gone for as long as you have been gone.
You think of returning home,
but home is gone too.