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Dogs

AFTER JOHN BERRYMAN’S 63RD DREAM SONG

Dogs pass no laws against you and knock not they your daughters
           up and do not to Manhattan go with your last two hundred
           dollars so, in general,
Dogs are A-OK with me. It’s people should be neutered and kept
           off the grass. People
And cats. People—like cats—are mean and always breeding and
           make your teeth hurt.
Plus, they’re sneaky—which is a lousy, fucking rotten thing to be.
No dog caught dead would sneaking be
And anyone says otherwise is a bullshit,
Cat-loving liar. A dog can’t
Lie, by the way—and a cat can’t tell the truth and people, at least
           the ones I’ve known,
Can’t tell the difference. That’s why I
Live alone—one of the reasons—with
My two dogs, that and because no one
Else will have me.