Howl If You Understand
Big dog snout resting
on the heavy of my thigh
dreaming of muddy chase —
rabbit, deer, horse — but, oh,
sweet canine, keeping that
rapid brain-beat breath with me
sacred syncopated systolic who
wonders who is the holy progenitor,
monkeys or aliens, and all that
messy DNA that seemed random
at first, but is the curse of mathematics
I never could learn, all those
right angles and decisive answers.
No, stop: The dog breathes in and out,
all that I knew, all that I forgot.
Forgive the happy brain of mammals
bred to please: They sigh, grumble, sleep.
I am the conduit, I am the audience.
Bark if you know what I mean,
howl if you understand — this insight
from the moon’s one good eye comes only
so often in doggy dreams on my thigh.
Big dog snout resting
on the heavy of my thigh
dreaming of muddy chase —
rabbit, deer, horse — but, oh,
sweet canine, keeping that
rapid brain-beat breath with me
sacred syncopated systolic who
wonders who is the holy progenitor,
monkeys or aliens, and all that
messy DNA that seemed random
at first, but is the curse of mathematics
I never could learn, all those
right angles and decisive answers.
No, stop: The dog breathes in and out,
all that I knew, all that I forgot.
Forgive the happy brain of mammals
bred to please: They sigh, grumble, sleep.
I am the conduit, I am the audience.
Bark if you know what I mean,
howl if you understand — this insight
from the moon’s one good eye comes only
so often in doggy dreams on my thigh.