Kingdom of the Animals

Jenny was gone, and the moon blooms, all shining
As we dragged our panic up and down the riverbed
Sweating wild and weird in our Sunday clothes

Jenny was gone, though I thought that I knew her
And the rain came howling out of Virginia
Blue tick blowing the water out her nose

Jenny and me, in the front row, and singing
About how heaven calls the kingdom of the animals,
All and all revealed to us one day

Jenny and me, on the hilltop and peeking
At all their upturned bottles, jumping like a leper's jaw-hop
Teasing the brush-fire in its rage

Jenny came back, and the wet road still shining
In our eyes, an angel clear and coronal
Clothed in all that's prodigal and strange

Jenny came back, and I thought that I heard her
Murmer something about no men in Virginia,
Spat on the ground like a letter tossed away.

Jenny and me, in our dead truck and turning
Over just where heaven calls the kingdom of the animals,
Scratching our heads where the wolves got away

Jenny and me, as the moon blooms were closing,
Both her wide-eyed brothers, running like shepherds
Dreaming the heat of the fields, all in flames