1.Because (She'll Do Anything)

I just stood there and stared her straight in the eye
and with a little smile I just stood there smiling
staring right at her eyes
Because she'll do anything
I opened my mouth and thought about my teeth and moved my tongue
and made a little pool of spit on the tip and then I swallowed
it.
Because she'll do anything
And I thought I saw her smiling back
knowing that I meant it
knowing how I thought she knew what I had said.
Because she'll do anything


2.Elegant Dirt

My father is persuasive.
I will stand out here amongst the garbage
and the leaves
and clean up everything I can see.
I'll cut the grass.
I'll make it green.
I can't believe what I have seen.
Back on the porch stands a curious pair.
An ox and a man are embracing there.
It's true! It's true!
That's Dr. Rude!


3.Elegant Dirt Part Ii

The dirt is soft, the air is clean.
the lawn is growing nice and green.
The ditch is undetectable.
No one can see my memory placed in a hole.
If I need to remember again,
I've got my plough and nothing more.
Instead, I'll plant a hedge nearby.
Something to take root and grow.
But with my luck, it'll probably die.


4.History Repents

Remember when that girl came,
That girl within the box?
She came to the house and claimed that
(this has nothing to do with the ox)
she stood at the door at dinnertime.
She came inside.
Is she still here?
I haven't seen her anywhere.
Maybe she's in the yard again.
Her face was fat on a scale of ten.
She was my cat last night.
I wonder how she's been.
She was my family yesterday.
They came and took my thoughts away
But that's OK. it serves them right.


5.Intuition And Stupidity

Before she was here, there was always fear
Sometimes I'd wake in the night
I might shake in hate or fright.
It's different now, it's changed somehow
Though I can't see,
I know next to me
it's warm and soft.
The form I boffed
It stirs and purrs
The whiskers make a fat face
(A bad relation
for a transmigration).


6.Lost In Texas

That hollow stare
She's nowhere
She's lost in Texas


7.Respect For Lawnmowers

I like the grass
It's like little teeth
It's short and green
I think it's neat.
I watch it grow
I have to know
Is it like me?
I cut it's hair
I make it square
What should it wear?
I'm glad it's there.


8.Should I Go Inside?

She reflects on the garden
She expects to be tired.
With everything she's done out here
She's really scuffed her jeans.
She's all done now
The yard is nice and clean.
Should she open the door
or should she open up her eyes?


9.The Backyard

The government's been overthrown.
The grass out back is overgrown
I've never felt so all alone.
Will I fit in, in my new home?
I've got to do something to save the lawn.
If I choose to do nothing, all is gone.
I'm frustrated about this decision
I've lost my way, I've lost my vision.
Why is life so god damned hard?
There's something dead in my backyard.


10.The Big-Faced Girl

She stood at the door with a box full of trash.
She asked me my name so I paid her in cash.
She said she was lonely and I didn't care.
Her face got so big, there was no room for hair.
She wore out her welcome and gave me her card.
It said, 'I'm a stranger and I've seen your yard.'


11.Unfair Prospects

My father's in the house and I'm left here out back.
He wants me to do yardwork
But my cat's in the sack.
He tells me to follow him, he thinks that I've been bad.
I think this house is way off base
But my cat's in the bag.
I fear the mower, reap the harvest
climb the tower and look the farthest away from here.
There's got to be away.
From here,
there's got to be a way from that.
But my cat's in the back.