The dogs stand at the window
and bark at the deer outside.
Two a.m.
and this is what I wake to.
Every night.
Since I am up now,
I kneel with them at the window,
look out into the garden,
see the nighttime deer
eating the flowers.
I cannot make the dogs stop barking.
They cannot make the deer stop eating.
And the deer …
Well, the deer eat flowers
in the moonlight
at two a.m.,
which is actually kind of beautiful
in its way, except for
the whole two a.m.
wake-up call thing.
And the fact that they’re
my flowers.
So I go back to bed.
The dogs lie on the floor
whining pitifully.
The deer
eat flowers in my garden
by the light of the moon.
And the world turns,
just like always.