Bark at the Dark

Who knows what the dog barks at in the dark
Though we see nothing and hear nothing
We trust his hearing and his sight
We believe something is there
Is it deer that have come into the green field to feed
Or a fox just inside the swallow woods
Could it be the wood duck’s chatter while
Resting on the pond bank beneath the pin oak
Maybe it is the bandit racoon rattling a glass jar  
On a shelf in the barn rummaging around
Or perhaps a phantom the dog has imagined as we do
When we think we hear something in the dark
And stand there frozen staring into the black
Wishing we could bark and growl and bare our teeth
Unafraid