Night Letter to the Reader I get up from the tangled bed and go outside, a bird leaving its nest, a snail taking a holiday from its shelf, but only to stand on the lawn, an ordinary insomniac amid the growth systems of gardens and woods. If I were younger, I might be thinking about something I heard at a party, about an unusual car, or the press of Saturday night, but as it it, I am simply conscious, an animal in pajamas, sensing only the pale humidity of the night and the slight zephyrs that stir the tops of the trees. The dog has followed me out and stands a little ahead, her nose lifted as if she were inhaling the tall white flowers, visible tonight in the darkened garden, and there was something else I wanted to tell you, something about the warm orange light in the windows of the house, but now I am wondering if you are even listening and why I bother to tell you these things that will never make a difference, flecks of ash, tibny chips of ice....