sleeping dogs

i tiptoe around this lonely house of dogs breathing

i listen to them listening

watch a light on the wall
horizontal and blurry
some film still
about empty lives and lost love

i want to shake myself from this cliche
but my pee echoes into a strangers toilet
and i'm here.

next door sounds
like tumbling buckets
broken pipes,
swampy well.

it's too late for renovations

i think of bad things
men in masks
sticky puddles

empty buckets
rusted pipes

while dogs sleep