My wife refrained from stretching out
her legs in bed, so as not to disturb
the dog lying there. Although I doubt
the dog was actually lying there.
It was dark and I could not see him
in the blackness, with his black hair.
The actual dog does not sit, nor fetch;
nor was he actually on the bed
in that space into which her legs would stretch.
She feared the dog would be inconvenienced;
though I don’t think it’s possible to inconvenience
a dog. (That is one difference between us.)
And I’m very sure that an idea cannot
be inconvenienced. It just cannot.
Nevertheless, though it was a bit hot
and she would have preferred mightily
to stretch her foot out from under the covers
instead she remained curled up tightly
in a ball and endured, so as not to be a
hinderance or bother, and continued
to accommodate herself around an idea.
For while the actual dog was absent in this case
the idea of the dog was quite real
in that night, in that particular space.
B Taylor 2020