White Picket Fence

You be the guy on the couch

and I’ll be the love of your life

we can take turns at the kitchen sink

contemplate Kierkegaard

contemplate soap scum

contemplate why this house is haunted

You can pay the electric bill

you can pay the pied piper

you can pay for the mistakes I make

we can build a better life

We can build a rocket ship

we can build a bomb

if you want

but you won’t push the button

and I can say “You saved the world”

you can be my hero

We’ll keep the devil under the kitchen table

we’ll set our plates on that same one

we’ll pile our mail in the left hand corner

we’ll pile our fuck-yous and slam-fists on there too

and when the going gets rough

so will we

I’ll stop cleaning my rooms

when my life becomes a mess

there will be dirty laundry

a soiled red dress

We can listen to P.J. Harvey

watch soft porn

we can eat popped corn

we can eat potato chips

we can eat cigarettes

like a right arm

like a best friend

like a slow noose

we can

from here

to just                  this much too far

and then and then

and then I can walk away.