My dad sometimes ran madly 

through the streets of our little town

shouting “Gandalf, Gandalf!”

As he passed the pet shop the resident mynah bird

mocked back at him “Gandalf, Gandalf”

though the open windows of summer.

There he was on a corner waiting, 

Gandalf himself with his big brown eyes

his long white hair and thick coat

one wood pigeon hanging limp 

inside his jaws

our dog, Gandalf the grey.

Marie-Louise received her MFA in 2020. Her poems can be found in Poetry News (winner of Summer 21 competition “The Lesser Loss”), Stand, Agenda, Portland Review & competition anthologies for the Bridport, Live Canon and Ginkgo AONG prizes. From the UK she lives in the US.