the dog barked mournfully

though

was it my imagination


maybe

it was just barking usually

as maybe it had no concept

of what mournful is


they say i have that ability

it comes at night he said

the bleakness, so i gave

him a little lamp, a night

light


later a small mirror of

the same design as i

do not like to think of folk

feeling so

in the dark


the dog barked in the distance

from pentre farm up the road

i walk up slowly and see that

it lives in the little enclosure

above the stream

it hears me and jumps about

yapping, looks happy so

i wonder why i ever pronounced

it mournful


i watch and remember the day

the farmer brought the cow down

from there with the calf and walked

them up the lane

to the next field


some times at home i think i hear

that cow low mournfully


if i stay quiet i can hear a lot of things

imagine a lot of things