Lulla

This night is full of ghosts

they whisper through their veil of tears

how lost they are, how left behind.

They visit me in dreams

seem the age of ‘make- believe’

when all of us were young ‘n free:

those days are past

‘n now I’m here, counting minutes

grateful for my dog’s soft breath

yet she must go before me now

strike a path that I’ve not known

until the hour I join her.