Dog in the Valley

Last night

I heard a dog

in the valley

puncturing the hills

with a sound

from a long

time ago.

It was the sound

of a man and woman

falling out of love,

the sound of a century

caught in the dark.

A deep-throated howl

made under stars,

made against death,

insisting there are drums

underground,

cymbals in the clouds,

a music that goes on and on

because someone

somewhere

is listening.

“Dog in the Valley” from Everything Begins Elsewhere, copyright 2013 by Tishani Doshi, used by permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org.

You can purchase Tishani Doshi’s latest collection of poetry, A God at the Door, here.