Straw House, Straw Dog

1

I watched TV. I had a Coke at the bar. I had four dreams in a row
where you were burned, about to burn, or still on fire.
I watched TV. I had a Coke at the bar. I had four Cokes,
four dreams in a row.

Here you are in the straw house, feeding the straw dog. Here you are
in the wrong house, feeding the wrong dog. I had a Coke with ice.
I had four dreams on TV. You have a cold cold smile.
You were burned, you were about to burn, you’re still on fire.

Here you are in the straw house, feeding ice to the dog, and you wanted
an adventure, so I said Have an adventure.
The straw about to burn, the straw on fire. Here you are on the TV,
saying Watch me, just watch me.

2

Four dreams in a row, four dreams in a row, four dreams in a row,
fall down right there. I wanted to fall down right there but I knew
you wouldn’t catch me because you’re dead. I swallowed crushed ice
pretending it was glass and you’re dead. Ashes to ashes.

You wanted to be cremated so we cremated you and you wanted an adventure
so I ran and I knew you wouldn’t catch me.
You are a fever I am learning to live with, and everything is happening
at the wrong end of a very long tunnel.

3

I woke up in the morning and I didn’t want anything, didn’t do anything,
couldn’t do it anyway,
just lay there listening to the blood rush through me and it never made
any sense, anything.

And I can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t sit still or fix things and I wake up and I
wake up and you’re still dead, you’re under the table, you’re still feeding
the damn dog, you’re cutting the room in half.
Whatever. Feed him whatever. Burn the straw house down.

4

I don’t really blame you for being dead but you can’t have your sweater back.
So, I said, now that we have our dead, what are we going to do with them?
There’s a black dog and there’s a white dog, depends on which you feed,
depends on which damn dog you live with.

5

Here we are
in the wrong tunnel, burn O burn, but it’s cold, I have clothes
all over my body, and it’s raining, it wasn’t supposed to. And there’s snow
on the TV, a landscape full of snow, falling from the fire-colored sky.

But thanks, thanks for calling it the blue sky
You can sleep now, you said. You can sleep now. You said that.
I had a dream where you said that. Thanks for saying that.
You weren’t supposed to.