All night, sounds came out of me–

not human nor animal, a howl

from beneath the primal loam of sleep

that tore through the throat

in frightening dreams.

Whence does this storm commence,

a sturm und drang galore, the twilight

quivering like the heart of a mouse

pursued by the screeching notes

of a hungered owl,

Its talons slicing the air.

Must I be like my family crest–

whose visage is cupped and tubed

like a space-age octopus,

a gorgon of operatic snoring?

For now, the cacophony of rest

fills the boudoir with a broken

kazoo, spills over my husband’s

head—wrapped in a pillow—

proof that love may be true, but not fair.

Mindy Kronenberg is a widely published poet, writer, critic, and professor of writing and the arts at SUNY Empire State University. Her work has appeared in print and online journals around the world, in numerous anthologies and video recordings, and has been featured in art exhibits at galleries and museum installations. She is the author of Dismantling the Playground, a poetry chapbook, Images of America: Miller Place, a pictorial history, and an illustrated book of poems, Open. Ms. Kronenberg is a board member of Inspiration Plus, an arts initiative that educates through the linking of art to science, is the editor of Oberon poetry magazine, and a docent/trustee of the Miller Place – Mt. Sinai Historic Society.