8:40 pm – Time to howl

Every night,
right on schedule,
the moon would tap the window
and my dogs would answer.

Not a bark,
not a growl,
a long, shared note
like they were tuning the universe
back into place.

I never set the time,
but they knew it,
8:40 sharp,
the daily ceremony
of fur and voice
reminding the world
that wildness still lives
in small backyards.