A Cowboy Overflow of the Heart

[Spoken: David Berman]
We inaugurate the evening
Just drumming up a little weariness
It gets late so early now
The waves come in mountain phases
Linked impossibilities
Branching possibilities
I’d see fire where not supposed to be
In the empty library at suppertime
By the respirating basement door
The dog eats out of an old tambourine on the floor
I’ve been told you can live a long, long time on the love of a dog
And that things get bitter and bad
When the people are wrong
And sleep can be had for the price of a song
Late in the day
When the options are gone
When the seatbelt’s the only hug you’ve felt in weeks
When wrong numbers are the totality of your social life
The obscure strategies of wildlife
Only flummox the hell out of you, kid
I first saw her in a megastore
The Day-Glo raven
Born into a free fall
Like plastic Easter basket grass
Falling from an overpass
The fulfillment of a tenth grade prophecy
A motel masterpiece
Blind to the branching possibilities
Blind to linked impossibilities
Teardrops were standing in my eyes
Like deer before they bolt
It was like I was stretching my arm through the cat door to heaven
I was thinking I could lick the frosting off these summer days if nights were half as sweet
Me like a banged up dog walking half sideways
I adored the way she modified my mornings
When I’d wake up in the calm shoals of her bed
Somersaults and smoke and a universe of sleet
Before she slipped into her heritage
And disappeared
Now every second thought is out of control
I guess in a way I long to be rad
When I was with her it felt wrong to be sad
Did I tell you an angel finally came and shut my mouth?
There was a smile and a tear in her voice too
And she taught me
To relight
Relight and relight again
They tell me you can live a long, long time on the love of a dog
Things get bitter and bad
And sleep can be had
Late in the day when the options seem gone
Please let your eyes be a friend to me again
It’s just malfunctioning teardrops
A cowboy overflow of the heart