Falling

Midnight. I wake up in her candle-lit bedroom, our bodies cupped, my hand resting on her breast. She snuggles closer, says, "Again?" And, later, "Stay tonight."

In the dream, small black dogs turn somersaults and jump through fiery hoops. The spotlit high-wire artist, a red-sequined woman balanced on his shoulders, takes a tentative step. Below, a clown cavorts with a butterfly net to catch them when they fall.

3 a.m.
kicking loose
the too-tight blankets

Ray Rasmussen, Simply Haiku, 6:3, Autumn 2008.