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 leopards Jaw hearp teasing the brushfire 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 Murmur something about No men in Virginia Spat on the ground Like a letter tossed away Jenny and me in my dead truck And turning over Just where heaven calls The kingdom of the animals Scratching our heads Where the wolf would go to lay Jenny and me as the moon blooms Were closing and both her wide-eyed brothers Running like shepherds Dreaming the heat of the fields All in flames --- Kingdom of the Animals - Iron and Wine