Waiting

It was a weight off our minds
when the dog stopped barking.

Birds began singing.

The air seemed less polluted.

The cats relaxed.

The barking
tore into each day.

Left us in shreds.

But whenever there was a pause…


it was like waiting
in the middle
of the night
for the new baby
to start

crying

again.

You hope it won’t
but it does.

And when it does
there’s a sense of relief
that the weight of waiting
is over

but there’s also exhaustion
and despair.

So when the dog stopped barking,
really stopped barking,
for whatever reason,
and we knew,
just knew,
that it would never start again,

it felt good.

Like a weight had been lifted.


The Weight

Over