we stepped out into the rain, and the waves were crashing against the shoreline, dark, tipped with snow, and raging. you, bright-eyed and eager, pulled against the leash, leading me down to the wetting sand. clouds above sang their tunes and candles in the sky flickered. you are bound for the sea, for the storm, for the clashing of water against broken earth. your bleached coat, spotted with gray, stood out against the onyx waves. we followed the shoreline for miles, to the decaying pier and back. we passed fallen umbrellas, forgotten buckets of wet sand, snapped fishing poles. by the time we made it home, your paws were soaked, sand clinging to the soles. my boots were wet, too, but that didn’t matter. what mattered was us, in the raging storm, together, odysseus & argos.