The man is standing on the side of the road With his dog and holding up his radar I asked him why he was here to get growled at He told me he was looking for the next star
I squinted at the horizon and watched the sun escape It was so embarrassed it started spinning sideways The disk flipped and struck me in the elbow The machine’s beeping and spreading its rays
The dog doesn’t look too disturbed and falls out Down the drain with its leash and collar Which gives the man two free hands A pretty good situation for a nightcrawler
I wouldn’t see him again until he was carrying Two sacks while walking the unmowed part of the sidewalk The birds are mocking him and demolishing their homes The bottles clang together in the bag and rock
The carpet for him is never rolled out And instead he must tangle with the weeds Get in his shoelaces and twist him up Then you’ll know just what he needs
You’ll be burned if you’re really that concerned Everything around you has been godforsaken All these years out here and what’ve you learned If you don’t defend yourself you’ll be taken
The fire hydrant trips up the case manager Who’s just trying to lighten their workload After the boss crossed off every mark Whenever productivity slowed
Something that happens every year around this time Since the raging river wipes out the guard That stands in the way of the foggy headlights Belonging to the vehicle whose insides are charred
The couple was looking for a safe place Where they could get away from the prying eyes Placed above the window lock and the siren Which howled at the industry’s wise
They worked on it with all the wrong tools And left their equipment inside their bodies So the vivisection wielded some strange ideas That we exported straight to the Saudis
The oil was burnt up and the whistle blew The dirty men filed past the remains Which were still safely buckled in there The fluid still pumping through their veins
You’ll be burned if you’re really that concerned Everything around you has been godforsaken All these years out here and what’ve you learned If you don’t defend yourself you’ll be taken
But I did everything right and was good To everyone both the rich and the poor Why am I being judged and condemned By the camera operating bulletproof voyeur
My expectations were admittedly a little high But I did not expect to be treated like this Can I have a little respect please If you’re not careful I’ll go straight to the Swiss
I’ve heard they have all the nice things there I don’t want to commit too soon My letter of interest and intent stays in the drawer And I don’t plan on getting it out until June
The deadlines spray into my living room Breaking all my fancily framed photographs That I’d hung to impress the census taker Because I heard she liked arts and crafts
The place was a mess when she got there I had to explain why I’d collected so many garbage cans She smiled and tried to get me to go to her car But I refused
