Last Night You Had The Saddest Eyes Poem by michael hogan

Last night you had the saddest eyes.
A single dove-call echoed across dusty hills
the last coyote slinking back to his empty den.

Faded bracts of bougainvillea
gathered in papier-mâché piles beneath the stairs
where they whispered like ancient souls.

I thought to speak to you.
I thought it would be easy lying there in bed
to simply reach out and say…

I don't remember who turned off the light.
I lay in the dark hearing the wind.
It rustled bare bones of the willow against the window.

I heard the neighbor's cat scrabble across our roof.
I don't remember who fell asleep first.
I only remember
last night you had the saddest eyes.