Shapes I Know - Slaughter Beach, Dog

Every day the bus comes and I start to lose it

All the other kids stop making out when I sit down

Staring at the TV in his socks, she leans in

Tying up her bathrobe in the dark of the early morning

Blow my breath out on the window

Use a finger to fill in

The frame with shapes I know

The road is slick with snow

And the grocery store is closed

Yuppies in the prefabs holding hands at midnight

Fuckers in their fast cars trading head by moonlight

Finger in the buck, knife in my bag from granddad

Jacking up the rent all down my block, so I don’t feel that bad

Blow my breath out on the window

In the cruiser with the lights off

The station looks the same

The night clerk calls my name

And the phone accepts my change

Emily decides she’s staying home this evening

Mama doesn’t like that kind of lip, she’s steaming

Caught cutting up the dress Aunt Julie bought from Boscov’s

Back of daddy’s hand on Christmas Eve in the moonlit garage

Blows her breath out on the window

Use her finger to fill in

The frame with shapes she knows

The road is slick with snow

And the grocery store is closed