ALL JOKES START THIS WAY

Nova Scotia 1987
eleven dogs walk into a bar

sunswept and faded
the paint separates in sheets
from the wooden sign

O DOGS ALL WED

it is Wednesday after all
and they're thirsty

do you recall what it's like
to be that parched
from heat, hard work, and loss
that you start
to forget what the rules are?

I saw a picture of us today
in that bar
where we were both
startled and stoned

I held a pecan-encrusted candy bar
like it was a cigar

you held your hands over your tits
and stuck out your tongue

drinking was a language for us then
I'm still speaking it
at least to myself

you must've found religion
because I haven't heard a word
from you in years
but

this morning
the day smelled
like a good chicken soup

I could drink it from a bowl

and by this afternoon
all it can muster
is some kind of scratch-and-sniff pickle

JD Frey--April 16, 1997