See the old man on the bridge, he’s hauling up a sagging net it’s full of eels twisting through the eyesockets 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 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 And neither one of you knows What the flowers in your hand Are supposed to mean 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 Yeah I know you had to shoot that dog I loved so much I know you had to do it.