Good Night

Last night was late.

The half moon shone bright

Cast on my dog’s head.

His tail wagged

Like it does

When he’s tired;

He knew it was time,

Time to go to bed.

We went in the house,

And his brown ears twitched

At the sound of

Rat claws in the walls.

It had been past time

To call the pest guy

For a while.

At least

I had a dog

To keep them

Out of our room.

He sleeps on my bed.

I know that my sheets

Are not too clean,

But I can’t sleep

When it’s just me

In the bed,

When I don’t have

The warmth of one

Whose heart beats,

Whose blood flows like mine,

Next to me.

I have a hard time

With sleep these days,

In the midst

Of the cold months;

And, of course,

When no one

Can go on a date

To save their life,

I’m SOL.

I let my dog

On the bed first,

Then I crawled in

Next to him,

One hand

On a soft, brown ear,

A smile on my lips,

And my eyes closed.