Always Waiting

Waiting to be let in
waiting to be let out--
what difference does it make?

I am always waiting
(if I feign sleep don't
let that fool you).

I am the watcher
a being-awake
sleepless, standing ground,

so you may dream.     

Notes

The word "wait," as a substantive, first indicated a watchman, a sentinel, someone awake in the night, even a night musician. Traceable to an Old High German word, wahta, or watchman, guard, a "being awake," the word is also related to the Gothic wakan, to be awake.

The first photo is of my cat, Dante, peering through the window at the yard. The second photo was taken last week on Vernon Street in Halifax, a black cat waiting.