I woke from dreaming because of the dogs

I was ordering Chinese for grandparents

Who have been dead for almost 30 years,

My husband sat at a table with important men

Talking of revitalizing the system. 

I look back on the year almost gone

And the years that actually have been lived

You may tell me that this is but a drop

In an ocean, that this too will pass

Then why do I feel like a carcass

Has been saddled on me? Something

I never craved or grieved? I miss the luxury

Of ordering Chinese, the husband busy

With his cronies, the kids away from home

Dogs and I nit-picking on the streets we own.