he won't sleep
even when he tries the dog wakes him the endlessly restless dog plagued by anxiety and and insatiably desperate need for attention, just like him... and her too... though she says the dog has allergies, but then, she says she needs pills too for that is the accepted way in these times, blame a physical cause for emotional choices and unresolved inner desires that become blind needs that manifest themselves in physical ailments that drive the mind quite crazy (using the term quite loosely, of course)... and while flippancy is often his defense, or burden when nobody gets the joke, the seriousness within his humor reveals his deeper concerns and wishes for enlightenment and greater conscious awareness for her, the dog, and all beings... it is sad to be the only one who knows what is really going on, he thinks... she wonders how his ego can be so big even as she wonders if he is right and she simultaneously loves and hates him for that... he knows that is the story of his life, even if he wonders if sleep deprivation and drugs warped his perspective long ago... the dog just continues to scratch, lick, pant, and occasionally whimper...