Kingdom of the Animals

Jenny was gone
And the moon blooms
All shining
As we dragged our panic
Up and down the riverbed
Sweating wild and weird
In our Sunday clothes
Jenny was gone
Though I thought that I knew her
And the rain came howling
Out of Virginia
Blue tick blowing the water
Out her nose
Jenny and me in the front row
And singing about how heaven calls
The kingdom of the animals all
And all revealed to us one day
Jenny and me on the hilltop
And peeking at all their upturned bottles
Jumping like leopards
Jaw hearp teasing the brushfire in its rage
Jenny came back
And the wet road still shining in our eyes
An angel clear and coronal
Clothed in all that’s prodigal and strange
Jenny came back
And I thought that I heard her
Murmur something about
No men in Virginia
Spat on the ground
Like a letter tossed away
Jenny and me in my dead truck
And turning over
Just where heaven calls
The kingdom of the animals
Scratching our heads
Where the wolf would go to lay
Jenny and me as the moon blooms
Were closing and both her wide-eyed brothers
Running like shepherds
Dreaming the heat of the fields
All in flames