Howling

The more I think about how things are,
the more I wish I could stop thinking entirely —

but then I’d have to feel
and I couldn’t take that for long.

Take the case of that dog yelping
in the next yard.  Is he in pain,

hungry, lonely?  I try to discern that
from the quality of his cries.

I stop analyzing, start to empathize, and learn
it’s all three at once. I know this at once

as i can feel the howls coalescing
in the hollow at the base of throat.