I dreamed of you last night
but it wasn’t you
it was another dog
who looked just like you
but I was only borrowing her
at the whim of some unseen and uncaring entity
sometimes the dog was there
and sometimes she wasn’t
and I could not predict when
I wanted to protest the unfairness of it all
but there was no one to hear me
it was only a dream, I know
but it was true to this extent—
I will only have you again
when I dream