Nightdogs

Asleep in treehouse nest I dream:
Cousin and family around the table;
Halfpint pup warm in my hands and
Woolly charcoal coloured bitch –
Aberrant canine curiosity.

Beside me, one in pitted sleep
Plays hard with subterranean thought:
His own dog, and policeman;
The worry of dog teeth in fowl flesh
Fading as night gives way to morning and
Respite, in snatches of welcome halfsleep,
Threatened at first by mosquitoes,
Is secured with sweet spiralling quiet.


April 2001