Two Dogs - Moses Sumney

I had two dogs

In the summer of 2004

One was boot black

The other whiter than a health food store

Medicine hogged

The floor space on the back porch

Donations my monarchs saved up

To take up to the poor

Oh, the backyard sang

A chorus of barks from Yin and Yang

They played angel and demon

But oh, I loved them just the same

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

Strange how what heals can also kill

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh, oh-ooh-ooh

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh, oh-ooh-ooh, oh

I found two dogs

On the hot concrete of the back porch

One in amniotic vomit

The other in fetal contort

Medicine clogged

Their stomachs 'til they overpoured

Strange how what heals can also kill

They both went grey

Adopting a putrid, lifeless stench

I learned in death

We all are unified in countenance

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

Eyes bulging like they’d finally seen the truth

The type of shit a child forgets

But the memory resets

When you ask me in a worried fret

«Have you ever at least loved a pet?»