Published in the 2011 Anthology of Poems:
They wake up.
Windows open, doors unlock.
The first pajamas and slippers appear on the lawns.
The dogs begin the usual morning morsing
With the rest of the neighborhood.
Wake up, dawg, they seem to say.
A woman leans out.
Her hair is curling down her shoulders.
A pillow is shaken out.
Stray feathers sail onto the ground.
Every day, from a deep sleep, they wake up.
Even the dead.
© Colleen Yorke. All rights reserved. 2015