Come Clown, Let's Go

Come Clown, Let's Go (for my dog Shaft)

Andiamo pagliaccio
vieni qui!
The morning nuts
are slippery.
Let's walk
over them slowly
and climb
the hill
just like the
old days,
smelling eucalyptus
and wild flowers and
peeing wherever we like.

Come my dear little clown,
let's go over the nuts
and through the dusty weeds.
Let's pretend we are
together again
and not a year
has passed
since we made time.

Come clown, let's go
over the woods and
into the warm sun
wherever we like
stopping because we can.

Come my little clown
you and I must make up
for all those lost
days in between
where we learned
nothing of each other
or ourselves.

Come clown
let's go
before this trail
ends
and we forget
the laughter of the wind
under the trees,
the grass tickling our backs.

Andiamo pagliaccio
vieni qui!
The morning nuts
are drying on the ground
and we have
time on our hands
just like the
old days.

Come clown,
let's go then
before the lights
of the city find us
and we are cast out
again
and apart.