Last night at a Days Inn next to a highway on-ramp
in small-town Ohio we were “those people,”
the howling inconsiderates of room 126 who made
the travelers in the rooms on either side and above of us
turn their televisions up,
made the traveling businessmen uncomfortable
in their double beds
the trucker longs for someone warm
the arguing couple pause and laugh and remember when they
were “those people”
and because none of them banged on the wall
or complained to management
I wish them the very best sleep of their lives tonight
because I cannot and would not
give them back last night.