Through closed eyes
        I recognize the dark

        achtung!   achtung!
        my pulse ticks off

        by heart   its own
        nocturnal  catalog

        (the dog wild now
        under the window

        a stranger

        under the window
        silent as a shadow)

        stretches hours taut
        across the bare planks

        of my bedroom floor.

Copyright © Miriam N. Kotzin, 2004. All Rights Reserved.