they call them the ‘wee’ hours,
but when enveloped in their dark cover
one breathes the severed solitude of  the ‘I’
the bed creaks under my rustle and turn

a dog barks in the neighborhood,
sharp spears of sound  pierce the night.
do keen ears detect an intruder?
perhaps he fears invisibility,
dreads disappearing into the inky gloom
and is announcing to the universe
a confirmation of his existence –
‘I bark therefore I am’

I fight the urge to open the window
stick out my head and
join my canine friend in primal cry