Sister Cities

See the old man?
On the bridge?
He's
Hauling up a sagging net.
It's full of eels
Twisting through the eye sockets of a horse's head
And this fiend has no family
So he will outlive
You and me.
In the hospital you talked about
Thumbing down that truck ride
For the first time
And the false friend
Kept his back turned
That's when you learned
The fierceness of man
Again.
How long it took to reach the
Sister Cities
And then somehow make it back
Just to tell me, "Yeah, I guess I'm still
Pretty mad."

Every other day
The same long road to
The old man down the street.
Neither one of you knows
What the flowers in your hand
Are supposed to mean.
Help! My uncle's gone insane,
In his room he sits
Shaking a geranium!
Outside, the old dog, resigned,
Leaves heavy tracks for the father
Dragging the rifle to find.
Every other day the same
Long road to the old man down the street.
Do you think someday, through all the flowers,
Your eyes finally will meet?
Where he'll tell you, "Honey, you know I had to shoot that dog
You loved so much. You know I had to do it. Aw, honey you know I had
To shoot that dog you loved so much, you know I had to do it."
"Yeah, I know you had to shoot that dog I loved so much
I know you had to do it."