When I Can't Sleep
/I’ve taken to just going ahead & getting up in the wee morning hours when I can’t sleep – a neighbor’s dog is continuously barking at 1 AM – what kind of a person leaves a dog out at night ? – late like that – a dangerous one for sure making seeking neighborly confrontation risky – & which neighbor? – it’s coming from the backyard but I can’t tell which house – I would have to get up – get dressed – turn off the alarm & walk or drive the next street over – stop & listen to see if I could make a determination & then what ? – call the police ? — I stared out my dark window towards the barking dog – I still hadn’t determined the location – I got up and made hot almond milk with some adaptigen tinctures & sat in the dark sunroom & stared at my reflection framed by Christmas lights in the glass sliding door – from this room I could not hear the barking dog – I began reading an article in the New Yorker about the Bloomsbury group – underlining references to fashion & home decor & color & texture – searching referenced artists & writer’s names on my iPhone when I heard this faint beeping – repetitive – I could not determine where it was coming from – I held my phone up to my ear to be certain it was not in there – I started staring out all the windows into the dark yard slowly turning the inside lights off so that the prowler – if there was one – could not see me – as I looked out the driveway window I thought the faint beeping was louder – I was considering waking Larry in case someone was stealing our car but he would not want to come into the dark sunroom naked – & it would take him too long to get dressed.