Poem - The Patient 4 & 5

4

in the middle of the night
i dream of the patient
my wife wakes me up
you're arguing with someone
and talking and talking
about time and ladders
stop stop

i wonder if i might meet
myself older or younger
and both of us not have
any idea who is who

you should take
some time off you never do
says my wife
your patients
be just fine and as 
crazy as ever when you
get back

i wonder who is
loonier and who is sane
i say half joking

that settles it
she says you're going
on vacation
to the lake house 
start packing 

*

before we leave
i let my secretary go
because i discover he is right

5

when we are at the lake house
the phone will ring sometimes a long time
because there is no answering machine

but when i go to answer it
the line goes dead

the phone never rings
at the same time of day

the phone never rings
for the same amount of time

kids crank calling
i tell my wife
convinced it is
something else

she unplugs the phone
and we light the lanterns
the lake is black
and huge

out over it are a few
bobbing lights