The dog whimpers in her sleep.
She chases something I can’t see.

There is a hole in the universe.
There is nothing there.

We are much more complex
than previously believed.

Smoke from the Dog Creek Fire
seals this valley grey.

How can there be nothing?
There is a hole in my life.

My dog chases it in her sleep.
She whimpers, her feet twitch.

Her chromosomes swirl into
something new, something

doglike, and precious.