Dog days are about nothing happening…progress stagnating. It comes from the idea of unbearable hot summers. The Romans used to sacrifice a dog when the star of Sirius appears because they thought that the hot summer days were brought on by the star.
So when “the horses are coming” it means that things are getting a move on. The horse is about power, wealth, victory. It’s about success.
“Run fast for your mother, fast for your father…children…sisters and brothers” is still around this idea brought on by the horse. Physically, the visual is a horse galloping away…but why for the loved ones? Running for them seems to be about this obligation that we have to live up to the people who we care about. “Leave all your love, and your longing behind” counters the whole “running for your mother…” Got me confused. Now that I think about it, it makes sense because the first step to coming back home is leaving. I’m thinking the hero’s journey here…which is alot about having to cut yourself loose from what you’re used to so you can find yourself. Finding out who you are, being an individual, is the first step to being a part of something beyond yourself. I suppose it’s what we call “soul searching.”
It wouldn’t suprise me if what she meant is something that sounds academically-oriented in terms of literature. Her mother is a Professor of Renaissance studies and she had sat in her Mom’s lecture(s).
coming soon:
Happiness, hit her like a train on a track…
killed it with kisses and from it she fled…
with every bubble she sank with a drink…
tproll 
Hi, thank you for your post, it helped me a lot figuring out many things.
I’m glad it helped you out. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Seems to me if it is speaking on Romans then is talking about conquest. Makes one wonder if dog days was a lul in conquest since the desert is so hot and after they are over the running starts because the Romans are on the march again.