“Before Midsummer Above the River” by W.S. Merwin

Ghosts of words
circle the empty room
where I was young
stars in daylight

not a sound from them
not one question
they know me
in their unseen galaxy
they are my own

the walls that were
whitewashed when they were younger
have turned into
maps of absence

my dog three years gone
and more
oh more
barks in a dream
beside my left hand
watchful as ever
waking me
from that dream

where is she

where am I