LOUISE WALLACE
The Dogs
1
Sleep is good for your health
but the dogs
bark
all night long
outside your window.
Not just one thin howl
scything at the air,
they perform a chorus
with an encore lopped on the end
just to push you over.
It pays not to think of the content
of a chorus of dogs,
or the inspiration
for such a production,
as that will only
drive you further.
‘Your health is suffering,’
the doctor says.
Sleep is good for your health
but the dogs
bark
all night long
outside your window.
Not just one thin howl
scything at the air,
they perform a chorus
with an encore lopped on the end
just to push you over.
It pays not to think of the content
of a chorus of dogs,
or the inspiration
for such a production,
as that will only
drive you further.
‘Your health is suffering,’
the doctor says.
2
A man is about to swing a spade
at the back of an unsuspecting someone’s head,
and he would,
if only the dogs would stop barking.
There is one bit in the movie
where your sister always jumps to her knees
and squeals ‘Oh no! Here it comes!,’
so you can never hear
the actual thud of collision
of stockinged brick and skull.
The thud itself may in fact be the point of it
but you can’t even think
your theory through
because of the dogs yapping at each other
in dialogue. It becomes all you hear
and think about, and soon
you wonder if you can speak ‘Dog’
purely through osmosis.
A man is about to swing a spade
at the back of an unsuspecting someone’s head,
and he would,
if only the dogs would stop barking.
There is one bit in the movie
where your sister always jumps to her knees
and squeals ‘Oh no! Here it comes!,’
so you can never hear
the actual thud of collision
of stockinged brick and skull.
The thud itself may in fact be the point of it
but you can’t even think
your theory through
because of the dogs yapping at each other
in dialogue. It becomes all you hear
and think about, and soon
you wonder if you can speak ‘Dog’
purely through osmosis.
3
On recollection, you think the dogs
have ruined every important moment
in your life.
School ceremonies, marriage proposals,
segments of silence
in the park. Always a dog
barking out of turn, running
through the scene,
or wearing a dog-sized cardigan
in an absurd colour.
Tangerine.
Mint.
On recollection, you think the dogs
have ruined every important moment
in your life.
School ceremonies, marriage proposals,
segments of silence
in the park. Always a dog
barking out of turn, running
through the scene,
or wearing a dog-sized cardigan
in an absurd colour.
Tangerine.
Mint.
The Waterbed does New York
When I asked you to write a story
about your afternoon, I meant something
that had actually happened to you.
There is a mighty gap
between creativity and lying.
Waterbeds can not call your bluff,
and can not dislike persimmons.
. . .
about your afternoon, I meant something
that had actually happened to you.
There is a mighty gap
between creativity and lying.
Waterbeds can not call your bluff,
and can not dislike persimmons.
. . .
I mean there is personification
and then there is personification.
. . .
and then there is personification.
. . .
And a waterbed’s eyes can most definitely not
‘narrow as though in a Western showdown’!
Do you understand me?!
‘narrow as though in a Western showdown’!
Do you understand me?!
Yes, Miss.
Personification and personification.
That much is clear.
Certainly.
Personification and personification.
That much is clear.
Certainly.
She doesn’t have to sleep with the damn thing, does she.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Louise Wallace is a Wellington poet, currently working and writing in Japan, whose heart belongs to Gisborne. Her work appears in the latest issue of Meanjin (Vol. 65, No. 3).