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, again, 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 Red flowers against your, red flowers against your Painted shut window 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" "Oh yeah, I know you had to shoot that dog I loved so much I know you had to do it"