Between plumbing issues
and so many dogs I cannot breathe,
do you not wonder what will happen next?
Is the garage down the alley on fire?
Did the great mastiff find its way home?
Can the southerly wind bring snow?
There is much to consider
and too much to forget
and still not enough to manage everything.
One night leads into another
one cloud merges in with its twin
one harmony of waves clashing with the beach
Another leak.
Another drop of water into the bucket.
Another shut off valve refusing to do its work.
This is from the hearth of the home,
the bucket near the front door full of paper,
the bark of a dog whispering to another.
Michael H. Brownstein’s book, A Slipknot Into Somewhere Else: A Poet’s Journey to the Borderlands of Dementia, was recently published by Cholla Needles Books (2018).
