Where Is The Big Dipper? Poem by RIC BASTASA

recently, i had nightmares.
and i wake up at 3 a.m. to the sounds
of dogs barking in the streets, as though
these animals have seen a ghost
or a bad spirit, and when i look at the
cctv of the house, in the streets there
are none to create the suspicion of
something ominous,

and then i feel the body of my wife beside
me, deep in sleep, soundly and i felt
enviouse, how such a woman could muster sleep
and enjoy the gift of dreams
throughout the night.

i wake up, drink a glass of water, open my laptop
and then begin to write about those stories of
my youth, the farm, the beach, the river,
and the blue skies, down into the details of
happy moments, remembering what mother cooked
once when we were children having a vacation
in the hills of Manawan,
trekking the mountains of Bitoon,
and collecting shells in the shallow parts
of Tabon lagoon.

slowly, stars begin to shine in my head.
and i see myself, the little boy beside father
trying to figure out where the big dipper is.