There was a time
when we thought we were living
the world was a jar
of maraschino cherries
each morning brought doves
each day came with daisies
each night had a moon like a cantaloupe slice
we ate with our fingers
we laughed like monkeys
any misfortune that seemed to be near
took a long walk off a very short pier
we were as happy as lobsters on ice
but a north wind blew through our south sea home
we stopped building mousetraps and built better mice
everything turned like a worm in our hand
the maraschino cherries made suicide pacts
the mice laid plans to build people traps
nothing to read but old Harlequin books
and pirates and pimps gave us pitying looks
we moved to a place called the Garden of Eden
an encampment of tents in row after row
armed polar bears and crocodile moats
the news hit our ears like a pie in the face
our doves were only feathers and foam
the moon was only a cantaloupe rind
and our daisies belonged to a funeral home
we ate all the monkeys
we laughed at our fingers
death looked away and pretended to cry
born in breech
we screamed at the light
our better angels turned out to be fools
and we still had our whole lives to get through.