I wake up on a street of dogs,
dog lawnmowers, dogs in cars,
dogwalking dogs.
It wasn’t anything I said, I say
to the shadow.
It’s this belief system, the one
I had installed overnight.
I look around me for the source
of the light. You slap
me once, twice. I wake up and
the street is deserted.
I am alone with my thoughts, as
they say. My thoughts
pack their bags. It’s getting dark.
I open my heart with an asterisk.